Reaction
by Crypticshadowy
Summary: Takes place before CA:TWS. Emma Austin is a leading researcher at SHIELD in xenoarchaeology. Steve Rogers is following SHIELD'S orders, being the soldier he was made to be after losing so much. He never thought meeting her would mean so much to him, but after an accident in the lab, could he end up losing her as well? Eventual Steve/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there, new author and new story here. **

**I'd been wanting to work on a fanfiction for a while now and I'm a big fan of the Captain America stories, so I couldn't help wanting to write my own story based off all the ideas that have been going through my mind. I wanted to write a different stories to the others, but also be similar in the sense that it is a fanfiction and some things are just going to be cliche or stereotypical in terms of plot, but I have tried to mold a unique storyline and character that I hope you guys will find interesting. **

**I love feedback, so if you enjoy the story or would like to see certain things happen, I am in the early stages of planning/writing this story so please let me know what you think, give me some advice and offer some ideas if you would like. Also, I've been looking for a beta to help me out with this story since I want to keep up a certain standard and I'll need help with some plot ideas, characterization and all of that stuff, so if anyone is interested/enjoys the story/has the time, please PM me. :)**

* * *

Steve looked in all of the labs as he walked down the hall of the SHIELD facility, Natasha walking alongside him with a bored expression on her face. She had walked these halls many times during her missions, but Steve had only been to the labs a few times. The rooms were full of people either working silently or arguing back and forth over their theories and explaining themselves with words and phrases that Steve, after almost two years of adjusting to the new age, still didn't understand.

''You think it's alien?'' Natasha asked, breaking Steve from his thoughts.

They had gone on a mission earlier in the day that lead them to discovering a weapon that didn't fit the traditional standards. They didn't know what it did, who made it, how it was made or what was used in it's creation. But SHIELD had the best researchers in the world that were trained and experienced in studying foreign objects. After the ordeal with the Tesseract, Steve made a point of knowing what it was that he had found and what SHIELD was intending to do with it.

''It wouldn't surprise me,'' he answered. ''But I'd prefer if it wasn't,''

Natasha led them to the lab they were being sent to, walking in as if she was a lab assistant instead of a field agent. Steve followed in behind her, soon realizing that he had not walked into one of the quiet labs. There were several people in lab coats wandering around looking at files, a few chatting and nodding and others arguing passionately as they stared at a chart on the wall. The only one who was quietly working happened to be a woman standing over by the lab table, staring at the object which was now in numerous pieces.

Dressed in a white lab coat, her jet black hair pulled into a messy heap behind her head, she was leaning over the table with a focused look on her face as she adjusted her glasses. She looked terribly confused, but then again, so did everyone.

''We're here for an update on our find,'' Natasha spoke, her sudden voice silencing them all even though it was polite and friendly. ''You guys know what that thing is yet?''

They all looked at one another, an obvious argument about to begin, and Natasha intercepted before it sparked.

''You,'' she pointed at the woman behind the table.

''Me?''

''You don't seem like you're about to explode with a million theories. We just need answers, even vague ones,'' Natasha explained, walking over to the table.

Steve followed behind, his arms folding in front of him as he tried to ignore the stares from the others. It wasn't every day that Captain America walked into their lab.

''Well, this isn't actually my primary field, I was brought in to evaluate if it was of foreign nature,'' the woman shook her head.

''Foreign nature?'' Natasha asked, stepping forward.

''You know, alien,'' the woman told her as she too folded her arms. ''Extraterrestrial, other worldly, fell from the sky in a spaceship,''

''And is it?''

''Not that I can tell. It looks like someone tried to make it look like it was of alien nature, definitely. Whoever it was, they knew what to replicate and how to make it appear foreign enough that it'd pose a threat and get the FBI or SHIELD or whover involved. There's key elements in deciphering whether something holds extraterrestrial power and this weapon, as convincing as it looks, isn't actually alien. But, like I said, this isn't my field, so you probably chose the wrong person to give you answers,''

Steve looked at the woman's I.D badge on her chest. _Dr. Emma Austin._

"That's an answer enough, we can cross alien off the list," Natasha shrugged. "But if it's not alien, what is it? And what does it do?"

Emma shrugged, a playful grin on her face as she looked over to her colleagues who all looked as if they were going to explode if they didn't have their theories heard right away.

"Those questions I can't answer, but I'm sure these guys will make your time here very interesting," she chuckled before walking away from the table. "Since all of my knowledge is useless here now, I'll leave you with…whatever it is,"

Steve didn't know why he was staring at the woman, he could tell he was being obvious, but he kept watching her as she moved so effortlessly around the room. She wore heeled boots with buckles over them which appeared to be a few sizes too big for her as they clung loosely to her legs which were covered by skin tight dark green pants. Everything about her seemed so casual and calm, even her attitude, and yet so intelligent. Her white lab coat was left open and unbuttoned, her baggy red shirt on full display.

"When you do find out what it actually is, let me know. It bugs when when I don't know things,"

With that one request, Emma left the room as it erupted into discussion.

"Remind me to just call up the lab next time instead of visiting," Natasha sighed, her hands in her hips.

Steve noticed he hadn't said a thing this whole time, but to be honest he didn't know what he could say to be useful right now. Replicate alien technology wasn't his area of expertise.

After an hour of standing in the lab and appointing people a certain amount of minutes each to explain their theory, Steve and Natasha finally had their answer. It was, in simplest terms, a device that attempted to give off high-strength electromagnetic radiation waves that would cause it's victim excruciating pain.

"Does it work?" Steve asked, breaking his silence.

"We don't know. We couldn't test it before because we didn't know what it was capable of or if it was alien tech, and then we deconstructed it," one of the men told him.

"And SHIELD's plans for it?" he asked again, getting to the point of why he was here.

When it came to SHIELD and powerful technology or weapons, he was always going to have trust issues.

"Possibly it'll go to the Fridge, if it qualifies. Since we haven't used it, we don't know if it's actually dangerous enough to be kept there. It will most likely be destroyed since it's in parts now and we know what it is and what the person was attempting to do,"

Steve nodded, satisfied. After a few more moments of collecting information, Natasha and Steve walked out of the room and back into the hall. Natasha let out a groan of annoyance when she looked at her watch, realizing how much time they'd wasted, glad they didn't have to do this everyday. It was rare for them to find strange objects like that on their missions, hence their unfamiliar visit to the labs.

Usually Fury had someone do the relaying of information, but considering Steve's opinion on SHIELD's history of lying about their intention with powerful weapons, they had to do it themselves.

"Next time, I'll let you handle all of this," Natasha looked up at him as they entered the elevator.

Steve pressed the number of the level they were headed to and turned to her. The labs were in the middle of the levels, being fair to all departments and faculties that needed to drop off and collect information.

"It wasn't that bad," he shrugged. "It's a side of SHIELD I haven't seen much of,"

Natasha smirked as she looked up at him. She was a spy and an assassin, she had remarkable observation skills and couldn't help noticing Steve's gaze that he held on the Dr. Austin when they first arrived. Natasha had been encouraging him to ease into dating again, but Steve wasn't in a rush to pursue a love life anytime soon, and she doubted that he would even admit to noticing the woman in the lab.

* * *

It was weeks before he saw her again. Waiting for an elevator down the hall, Emma tapped her foot to the music playing through her earphones. Steve didn't notice her until he got closer, his mind on the mission he was about to leave on. Her black hair was pulled to the side in a messy braid and her head moved in tiny motions, her lips beginning to mouth the words of the song until she managed to see Steve's reflection in the glass.

Emma turned quickly, an embarrassed look on her face as she pulled the earphones out. Steve almost regret making his presence known, finding her movements quite amusing.

"Oh, Captain Rogers," she smiled, tossing her iPod into her bag which was draped over her body from her left shoulder down to her right hip.

"Dr. Austin," he returned with a grin.

"Don't judge me, I just updated my iPod," she chuckled before noticing his uniform. "Headed out for a mission or returning from one?"

"Headed out," he told her, his hands sinking into his pockets.

The elevator doors soon opened, a swarm of SHIELD employees spilling out. Emma walked in first, Steve following behind and letting her choose the level. He was headed to Fury'a office on one of the top floors and even though he was scheduled for a mission, he wasn't in a rush.

When the doors closed, silence fell over them both. Steve hadn't always been the best at talking to women, something that he thought would get better with time, but it was still a small struggle.

"So did you guys find out what that weapon you found was?" Emma asked, remembering back three weeks ago.

"Yeah, didn't they let you know?"

"I've been in New York for a couple of weeks working, so I missed out," she explained.

"Oh, well they eventually destroyed it. I think they were calling it a home made pain ray,'' Steve told her before explaining everything he remembered about what they'd said.

''Right, so it was like an ADS ray gun,'' she nodded, the information registering in her mind.

''ADS?''

''Active Denial System, it was developed by the military but they didn't end up using it. I guess you found someone's homemade attempt at building one. Man, working on the field seems pretty exciting,''

Steve laughed, shaking his head.

''Not always,'' he admitted. ''You'd be surprised how repetitive it becomes,''

''Oh come on, you get to walk into missions every day with no idea what to expect. The element of surprise would make any day pretty interesting I think,''

Steve smiled, looking over to her.

''What's your primary field?'' he asked, thinking back to the day he met her in the lab.

SHIELD's research labs weren't very traditional. Unlike other institutions, employees here studied much more complex ideas and developed weapons and numerous devices fitted with original concoctions that were able to fight against more advanced creatures and bad guys that SHIELD had dealt with in the past.

''Xenoarchaelogy,'' she told him as she leaned her shoulder on the glass wall of the elevator. ''But also evolutionary biology. SHIELD helped me kind of overlap the two,''

Steve's eyes widened at her words. He knew she would have to be skilled in certain aspects of science in order to work here at the Triskelion, SHIELD's headquarters, but he wasn't expecting that. Steve was nowhere near unintelligent, but in regards to science, there were many things he just didn't follow or understand.

''Xenoarchaelogy?'' he asked, knowing that her biology field did sound familiar to him.

Emma's face lit up as if explaining it was her favorite thing to do.

''Oh, it's amazing. It's basically the study of alien life forms, civilizations, and how they used to live. Of course, working at SHIELD kind of changes it's definition for me. My work is based around extracting alien samples and studying them, becoming familiar with how to determine their nature and basically learning everything I can about them so that I can help people if they're ever infected by a foreign disease, but also help defend if they ever come back by knowing how they work.

As you would have guessed, SHIELD has a lot more experience with extraterrestrial beings than any other organization, and research has really just surged since New York and the battle with the Chitauri..'' she trailed off, realizing that talking about that day might bring back unpleasant memories for Steve. ''Uh, I ramble a lot if you get me talking about stuff like that, it's hard to shut me up, sorry,''

But Steve didn't find it annoying at all. The way her eyes widened as she explained her work, and passion that was so obvious in her voice, it was almost mesmerizing to listen to. The idea of learning about another life form and helping others while doing so seemed to ignite a spark within her and Steve couldn't help grin.

''No, it's nice, not everyone gets that excited about their job,'' he told her when the elevator stopped, the door opening to an empty hallway.

Even standing all the way at the end of the hall in the elevator, Steve could still hear the sounds of arguing scientists in their labs.

''Well, not everyone is like me,'' she remarked with a laugh as she walked out into the hall, her over sized boots echoing before she turned to him quickly as the doors began to shut. ''Good luck on your mission Cap!''

Steve smiled and gave her a nod in return just as the doors closed, and he was still smiling as the elevator began moving again, reminding him that he still had a mission to get to. He hadn't thought too much about Emma over the past few weeks. They had only met once, they hadn't even been properly introduced, and Steve had been doing missions that required him to be gone for days.

However when he saw her again, he couldn't help smiling whenever she opened her mouth to speak or at the way she lazily leaned against the wall. It was rare to find someone at SHIELD that didn't treat him in a formal manner, like a normal man instead of a legend, but he understood why people were like that. He was finding that Emma was rather refreshing to be around, and although he barely knew the woman, he was hoping that they'd see each other again soon.

* * *

_''Take my hand, we'll make it I swear, woah! Livin' on a prayer!''_

Emma sang to herself as she danced around the empty lab, carefully however, as she carried a tray with two petri dishes over to her desk. Time had gotten away from her that afternoon and before she knew it the sun was setting, but Emma was still full of energy and actually enjoyed working late nights at the lab.

When her colleagues all went home, she'd turn on the stereo in the lab and continue her work alone. Emma knew she was rather obsessed with her work, but she'd known that for years now and that hadn't stopped her from basically living in her lab. The fact that there were other beings out there was fascinating to her and she loved that it was her job to study everything about them.

Adjusting her glasses, Emma settled the petri dishes underneath her microscope, settling her elbows on either side of it as her hand began to fiddle with the focus. Just over a month ago, she'd been sent to New York for two weeks to study some newly found Chitauri equipment that had been left behind from the Battle of New York. Part of Emma's job wasn't only to take DNA samples from aliens, but also their weapons.

The Chitauri didn't use conventional weapons and they were all covered in alien substances that SHIELD didn't want landing in the wrong hands. That's where Emma came in. She'd collected all the samples she could and took them back to her lab at the Triskelion, assigned with the task of breaking down the substances and creating vials of foreign liquids, usually in a syringe, to submit to SHIELD. It always made Emma worry about what they were going to do with them.

However she'd been assured that all her work would be sent to the Fridge until SHIELD and the qualified scientists decided what the best method of use would be for them. Creating alien weapons for defence, testing the substance on a living subject for medicinal purposes or using it to create new and original devices for the field. There were endless possibilities.

Emma yawned as she turned in her seat, holding the small of liquid in her hand and raising it up to inspect it in the light. It was a murky brown color, almost black, but Emma was amazed at just how much power was inside. A mixture of Chitauri blood, the essence from one of their weapons and liquid that she had collected from overseas discoveries, only using a small amount of the unknown liquid. She had no idea what the concoction would be able to do, but she knew it would be powerful. Hopefully SHIELD would use it in a productive and safe way.

_''Na, na, na, na na na na!''_

_Hey Jude_ played over the stereo as Emma stood up and stretched her arms while singing along, walking over to turn off the music. She was finally getting tired and since it had passed midnight, she made the decision to call it a day.

Leaving the vial just sitting on the table didn't sit well with her, especially since she was sure her colleagues would get to the lab earlier than her in the morning. Sighing in reluctance, Emma walked over ot her cabinet and took out a new syringe, unwrapped the packaging and took her seat at her desk again. Even after doing this hundreds of times before, she still could never get the syringe in the right spot on her first try.

''Ah ha! Got you!'' Emma smirked as she stabbed the vial on her second try, satisfied with her efforts.

The syringe filled up quickly, draining the vial of it's contents. Emma flicked the syringe a few times when she held it up, making sure it was settled as she let out yet another yawn. Realizing the container for the syringe was on the other side of the room, Emma groaned loudly as she turned around, but her feet immediately tripped over themselves and she landed in a heap on the ground.

''Ow!'' she whined as she pushed herself back onto her knees quickly, her eyes searching for the syringe.

She panicked when she couldn't see it on the ground, fearing it had smashed beneath her or rolled away somewhere in the lab, but she soon found it. Underneath her forearm, the syringe didn't have a scratch on it, but it was hard not to notice the fact that the liquid inside was significantly less than before and the needle was now embedded deep into her skin.

* * *

**Just a little note, I did take a certain amount of inspiration for Emma from_ Orphan Black_'s Cosima in terms of how passionate she is about her career and with her physical appearance. So if anyone is looking to envision my character, my muse is Tatiana Maslany, but more specifically the character she portrays, Cosima, from _Orphan Black_. Except without the dreads. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, I hope you're getting interested in this story, because a whole lot more will be happening in coming chapters since these were really just the establishing ones. I don't know if you guys like my character Emma, so if you have any advice or constructive criticism that you think would help or have any questions, just let me know. I'm open to all kinds of feedback, really. I think people might have a hard time envisioning Emma because I explained her as being influenced by Cosima from _Orphan Black_. I mean that in terms of her career and appearance (the glasses and black hair) but that's about it, she doesn't have dreads or winged eyeliner or her nose pierced. Anyway, thanks for reading and let me know if you guys are enjoying it. :)**

* * *

Emma's eyes widened as she realized what had happened. She'd landed on the ground and pushed the syringe into her arm, the pump pressing into the floor and filling her vein's with the liquid.

''Shit,'' she whispered, almost disbelieving the situation before her as she ripped the syringe.

There were protocols for this type of thing, for accidents that involved dangerous chemicals or needle pricks that exposed them to unknown consequences, but Emma had never had to follow them before. She had never had an accident in her lab.

Standing up and rushing over to the cabinets, Emma began shoving at all of it's contents until she found the emergency kit. Instead of bandages and band-aids being inside, there was a small vial blue liquid and another, smaller, syringe. Emma quickly stabbed the needle into the vial, readied it, and then injected it into her forearm exactly where the other syringe had entered.

When the liquid was all gone, Emma threw the syringe back into the box and threw herself down on the ground. Her heart was racing with worry, but also relief. That vial just saved her from whatever concoction she'd created. It immediately cleansed her blood, ridding her of the substance she'd created.

''Yeah, I think I deserve a late start in the morning,'' she nodded to herself, her breathing unsteady as she wiped her forehead of a few beads of sweat.

* * *

Two weeks later Emma had been called to Director Fury's office in the late afternoon. To say she was nervous was an understatement considering the fact that she had no idea why he wanted to speak to her. She had never dealt with him personally more than a mere two times, usually her faculty would be spoken to by him every now and then, but never one on one unless something had happened. She hoped there wasn't a problem with the research she'd submitted on the Chitauri findings, she was the only one who was working on it, it would make sense for them to have to speak solely to her about it.

However as she stood outside the door to Fury's office, her bag slung over her shoulder, she couldn't help tapping her feet impatiently, annoying the guard nearby who just stared at her with an unimpressed glare. Whatever it was, she wanted to get it over and done with as quickly as possible.

''Dr. Austin,'' Fury appeared at the door. ''Come in,''

Emma took a deep breath as she wlaked past the Director and into his office, hearing the click of the door behind her. He walked to the other side of his deak and sat down, signalling for her to do the same. Her fingers began entwining in her hair, twisting and pulling on pieces, thankful that she'd chosen to wear her hair out that day.

''How's the research going?'' Fury asked casually, leaning back in his chair.

''Fine,'' Emma nodded. ''Made a lot of progress,''

''Good. It's nice to have someone as committed as you on this project,''

''So there's no problems with my work?''

''Not that I've found or heard of. In fact I've only heard praise,''

Emma's lips pulled into a smile, but it only lasted briefly as she realized she now had no idea why she was needed.

''So then, what's the problem?''

Fury leaned forward, staring at her.

''Believe it or not, SHIELD does check up on the lab's supplies. We noticed an emergency neutralization kit had been used in your lab while you were the only one clocked in, but there was no incident report filed. I'd just like you to explain that to me,'' he informed, waiting for her to speak.

Although it had seemed serious at the time, the incident had all but slipped her mind recently. For a few days after her late stay at the lab, she had been paranoid about what would be happening to her. She'd checked her blood everyday and found nothing, the neutralization injection had worked just like it was supposed to. No side effects from the unknown substance had appeared and she felt fine. It was just an accident in the lab that she'd taken care of by following protocol.

But if SHIELD knew what happened, they'd have her hooked up to machines and sending for other experts to come study her. She was nobody's lab rat.

''Well, I spilled a sample of a subtance onto the ground and wasn't wearing my mask. It was a weak substance, nothing powerful, but I took the neautralization injection as a precaution. Safety is key after all,'' she explained. ''I didn't file an incident report because I didn't see it as an incident but rather me being paranoid,''

''Any time those kits are used, it's an incident,'' Fury told her seriously. ''You may have been exposed-''

''I work with alien DNA every time I come to work. I can't file an incident report every time I want a closer look at something. Look, I know those neutralization kits are for emergencies and accidents, but I helped create that injection beause of the environment I work in. I can't be expected to let you know whenever I use one considering what I do,''  
Emma told him honestly.

Fury clasped his hands together, bringing them up to rest his chin on as he stared at the woman. It was true that she helped develop the injection, but he didn't know if that gave her a free pass to use them whenever she felt necessary without informing SHIELD. They needed to control the situation if it got out of hand, if she became exposed to something harmful.

However she was the leading researcher in xenoarchaeology, he couldn't deny that she knew what she was doing more thany anyone. She knew more about extraterrestrial life forms than any high authority leader at SHIELD and she did have a good reason to use those kits whenever she saw fit. It only meant she was doing her job right.

''You're aware of the protocol if you are exposed to anything harmful or potentially dangerous,'' he finally spoke.

''I am,'' Emma nodded, crossing her right leg over her left, looking at ease.

''Then be sure to follow it if anything happens again,'' he warned.

''Got it,''

The silence between them was enough indication to Emma for her to leave. Fury wasn't the easiest man to read or deal with, but Emma rarely had to. Fury was much more involved with field work and top secret missions to be bothered by any issues at the labs, but he was the Director and every now and then he had to check in with everything.

Emma didn't feel bad about lying. She knew what SHIELD's reaction would be and since she had repeatedly tested herself, monitored and kept an eye out for any potential changes to her blood, Emma knew she was perfectly fine.

Walking out of Fury's office, Emma ignored the guard by the door and turned to walk down the hall. Fury's office was much higher up the her lab and she dreaded having to share the elevator with agents. Rounding the corner and pulling off her glasses, Emma began to wipe the frames of their smudges before feeling herself bump into someone.

''Whoa,'' Steve put his arms on Emma's shoulders, steadying her.

''Shit,'' Emma gasped when she heard the glasses clink to the ground.

It wasn't as if she was blind without them, but it did help to be able to make out words and people's faces clearly without having to be inches away from them. Steve saw the black frames and bent down to pick them up, inspecting before he handed them to her.

''No breaks,'' he assured her.

''Thank god, this is my third pair in two months,'' she chuckled, pushing them onto her face.

Steve looked down the hall to see where she had been walking from, wondering what was going on. He had never seen her in any department above the labs before and especially not anywhere near Fury's office, however she didn't seem like anything had happened or was wrong.

''Everything okay?'' he asked anyway.

''Yeah, same old,'' she shrugged, running her hand through her hair. ''Anymore weird findings on your missions?''

''Believe it or not, my missions aren't always that exciting,''

''I don't think I'll ever believe that,'' she laughed.

Emma put her hands in her coat pockets as she glanced down the hall, her eyes widening as she saw that the elevator was actually vacant.

''It's free!'' she gasped, her feet running toward the door before she remembered she had been talking to Steve. ''Are you leaving?''

Steve looked confused as he stared over to her, nodding his head. He'd just returned from a mission hours ago and finished debriefing. He was done for the day.

''Then come on!''

Following behind her hurriedly, Steve stepped into the elevator just moments before Emma hit the close door button, seeing someone in a suit trying to hurry to get inside. Emma bit down on her bottom lip as the door shut before anyone else joined them and she let out a sigh of relief, chuckling slightly at the fact the other man hadn't made it.

''If you can't tell, I don't like being in an elevator with other people,'' she turned to Steve, leaning back on the glass wall as they moved.

''I've been in an elevator with you before,'' he reminded.

''One or two people is fine, but I don't like being crowded,'' she explained. ''Especially not in a glass cube that falls down the side of a huge building like this,''

''Then it must be terrible having your lab half way,''

''Oh it is,'' she sighed.

Emma could tell that Steve wasn't a very talkative person. He provided basic small talk, Emma just filled in the silences as best she could. He was the only SHIELD agent that actually took the time to speak to her when it wasn't totally necessary, but she had a feeling he didn't operate the same way the others did. Old fashioned values and all.

She didn't see Steve often and when she did, their conversations were brief. But even during those small amount of times, she noticed when talking to him that the world had definitely changed since his time in the 40's. The people had changed.

''Any more missions today?'' she asked when they began to reach the lower levels.

Steve shook his head.

''Any more research?'

''I ran out of supplies,'' she told him disappointedly. ''And I'm starving,''

''You don't like the cafeteria food?'' he asked as the elevator slowed down, reaching the bottom floor.

Emma scrunched her nose in disgust.

''I've ate one too many stale sandwiches,'' she shook her head. ''But I do admit their coffee is pretty good,''

''I'll have to try it then,'' he smiled.

Their goodbye was brief, both walking off in different directions after they exchanged a friendly grin and wave. Emma let out a long yawn as she walked toward the garage door, fishing around in her bag for her keys. The black Camry beeped twice as she walked towards it and threw her belongings into the back seat.  
Emma wanted nothing more than to go home, have an actual meal and watch a movie that she would fall asleep within the first few minutes of. It had been a while since she had gone home before night set in, she had to admit she was rather excited about it.

When she drove out of the garage, Emma settled into her seat ready for her thirty minute drive home, but soon slowed down when she saw someone walking down the long road that lead out of the Triskellion. His dark blue jacket and black jeans gave away who it was without Emma even having to look at his backpack or his blonde hair. His hands were tucked into his pocket as he walked, not even aware of Emma's car slowing down beside him.

When he saw the black car out of the corner of his eye, he looked over to it study it before he noticed the woman in the front seat who had leaned over to open the door. She stared at him for a moment as she pushed her glasses up on her nose.

''Need a lift?''

Steve bent down and leaned his hand against the door.

''I didn't know you were following me,'' he joked.

''Oh yeah, I commit a lot of time to it as well,'' she nodded seriously before breaking out into a laugh. ''Come on, it's getting dark,''

Swinging his bag off his back and sitting it on the floor of the car, Steve slid into the passenger seat and shut the door behind him, taking in his new surroundings. Her car smelled like tropical fruits thanks to the little air freshener that hung from her rear vision mirror, jumping around as Emma pulled the vehicle away from the curb.

_''We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,''_

Steve listened to the music playing, noting that it was familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was. He had listened to a lot of music he wasn't familiar with over the past two years, taking people's suggestions and trying to catch up on everything he'd missed. Emma tapped her fingers against the steering wheel as she mouthed the words, and Steve noticed just how beautiful he thought she was. The afternoon sun was hitting her pale skin and illuminating her, it was hard not to notice.

''I thought you rode a motorbike?'' she turned to him. ''I've caught quite a few agents standing by the window as they watched you ride away into the sunset. So dramatic,''

Steve chuckled.

''I do, but I got called out on a mission from my apartment,'' he told her.

''And they just left you to walk home? Man, I thought SHIELD had more class than that,''

''They offered, but I didn't really want to be chauffeured home,''

Emma looked over to him awkwardly.

''Oh, sorry, I didn't know you wanted to walk-''

''No, no, I meant by them,'' he answered quickly. immediately realizing what he said. ''I didn't mean you. I don't mind walking either, but it's not that I didn't want-''

''You don't want to be around SHIELD longer than you have to?'' she guessed, cutting him off, but he smiled over to her with a nod in response. ''I get it,''

''It's not that I don't like what I do, but we did things a lot differently back in my day,'' he explained. ''I can't say I agree with the way SHIELD handles things most of the time,''

''Is that why you come down personally and check the lab?'' she looked over to him, one hand lazily on the steering wheel as they waited in traffic.

''After New York, I guess I have a few trust issues,'' he told her.

Emma looked back to the road as the cars began moving, thinking to herself. A main point of her job was having a ridiculous amount of trust in SHIELD when she handed over those samples and when giving them information that she knew they could easily misuse. She hoped they were using her work to help people with medicine research or defense with her discoveries, but whenever she asked, she was referred to a bunch of SHIELD agents who claimed she didn't have a high enough rank to be told.

Steve wasn't being unreasonable. Emma could completely understand his trust issues with SHIELD. Everyone knew the story of Captain America being found in the ice and then the Tesseract, the weapon he died to keep hidden, being brought up and threatening the world anyway. In fact, she was surprised he still worked for them at all after everything.

''So I admit, I'm a terrible stalker, I have no idea where you live,'' she told him when they got closer into the city.

''It's just a few blocks down from here,'' he pointed in the direction.

Emma watched the traffic light ahead of her, noticing that it was going orange and she was going to be stuck in this queue for another ten minutes waiting. When she neared it, knowing she should stop, she kicked the car back a gear and sped off, easily sliding around the corner before the red light flashed.

Steve's hands held on to the seats as her actions took him by surprise, a small gasp of shock escaping his lips. Emma looked over to him with a guilty grin like a child caught in the middle of an act, biting down on her lip for a moment as she studied his expression.

''Sorry about that Cap,'' she chuckled lightly, returning to her normal driving.

Steve eased back into his seat comfortably, his hands now resting on his legs as he stared at her for a moment. Until Emma turned to meet his gaze.

''It's fine, I'm used to much worse,'' he explained, thinking of Natasha's erratic driving. ''And it's just Steve,''

''Steve,'' she nodded, a small grin on her lips. ''You don't like Cap?''

''I usually only get it from fellow agents on the field,''

Emma wanted to roll her eyes at the whole idea of agents being superior but she knew that wasn't what he meant. Still, she disliked the rift between agents and other SHIELD employees, she always had for some reason.

''Well, I'm no agent,'' she shrugged.

''No,'' Steve agreed with a nod. ''You're a friend,''

Emma turned to look at him when she heard his words, wondering if he was being serious. They didn't know each other very well personally, but Emma couldn't deny how much she enjoyed him being around her. She didn't make friends at SHIELD, she only had conversations with her lab colleagues. Everyone was there to do their work and go home, no one took the time to get to know each other more than they had to. Another example of how much the world had changed.

''So friends get to call you Steve?'' she smirked, turning another corner after Steve told her where his apartment building was. ''I feel honored. I just go by Emma to everyone, but if a nickname for friends to use comes up, I'll let you know,''

Steve took off his seat belt as they pulled up to his building, a smile on his lips. He didn't know why he enjoyed being aorund her so much, just over a month ago he didn't even know who she was. Steve had no idea how he hadn't noticed her around before. She was captivating. He didn't know that many people in SHIELD personally besides Natasha who he did most of his missions with, but even she was a stranger to him sometimes. Emma was someone at SHIELD who didn't see him as Captain America all the time, but Steve Rogers.

''Thanks for the ride,'' Steve looked over to her as he scooted out of the seat.

''No problem, I'll see you around. Bye Steve,'' she smiled.

Emma drove away from his building, watching him in the rear vision mirror as he waited until she turned the corner. Three years ago she was just a 22 year old student who agreed to join SHIELD after they'd approached her, she had no idea what she was getting into. But she certainly didn't expect to become friends with a man that the whole country idolized.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, I hope this chapter gives you all an idea of what direction I'm taking the story in and hopefully it'll be interesting and cool and all of that. Obviously this story is a Steve/OC one, so if it seems like I'm rushing the characters together in some way, please just let me know. I've been trying to make it a slower transition in terms of Emma and Steve becoming closer friends, so I hope it all goes smoothly. **

**I know it's a romance story, but I don't think that'll be happening for a while because I have a lot of other stuff planned for before then. Anyway, if you have any questions, please just PM me or review and I'll get back to you. Let me know if you're enjoying the story or if there's anything you'd like to suggest.**

**Thanks to those who have reviewed, I love hearing from you all and I'm happy you're enjoying my character so far, I hope I can continue writing well enough for you guys.**

**Thanks for reading :)**

* * *

It had taken over a month before anything had happened.

_''Said woman take it slow, it'll work itself out fine. All we need is just a little patience,''_

Emma had her head down resting on her arm as she sat at her desk, her tired eyes reading over the reports she was sending in. Listening to her favorite song always made her tired, all she did was remember back to the first time she ever heard it with her mother as a child. It was her favorite memory.

As the song finished, Emma sat up in her seat and yawned, stretching her arms. Another late night at work, her third this week, and she was sure some people were beginning to think she actually lived in her lab. She didn't complain though considering staying back was completely optional, but she found that she got her work done best when she was alone.

It was when she sat back in her chair that she saw the stain on the report in front of her. It was a tiny puddle of black liquid. Intrigued, Emma dabbed her finger in it. It was thick like glue, which only made her more confused. She turned and looked at the desk beside hers, trying to find out where the black liquid had come from, but there was nothing there.

''Okay...'' Emma shook her head, baffled.

Figuring her late night brain had kicked in and she was imagining things, Emma put her report on the desk ready for the next morning and packed up her stuff into her bad. Turning off the music, she stopped by the glass cabinet and dropped her bag to the ground, her mouth hanging open and her eyes growing wide. Trailing down from her nose was the black liquid, stopping just above her lip.

Emma lifted her hand up and wiped above her lip just as she did when she had a nose bleed. Except this wasn't normal, red blood. There was nothing normal about this. No matter how hard she tried to ignore the fact, she knew she'd seen the black fluid before. It was the same type of liquid she had seen when studying the Chitauri and their blood samples. It was extraterrestrial blood.

* * *

The next morning Emma came into the lab early before any of the others and began running tests. She had no sleep the night before but she couldn't stay in her lab, SHIELD would get too suspicious and she had nothing to explain herself. She didn't expect anything to happen, she had been testing her blood every few days to make sure she was okay since she knew just how powerful alien substances could be, but she had found nothing. Emma was the most skilled scientist at SHIELD when it came to this and if she had been missing signs in her blood work then she had no idea who else to go to.

As she sat at her desk with a serious and focused expression on her face, analyzing all of the results and color of her blood, she heard the door to her lab open and she couldn't help feeling defensive. She immediately pushed the test tubes to the back of her desk as she pulled papers in front of her, trying to seem like she wasn't occupied.

''You're here early,''

''Maybe you're just late today Al,'' Emma quipped.

''I'm here at the same time every morning, you show up two hours later,'' he reminded her. ''What's so important it got you here before midday?''

''Nothing,'' she shook her head with a careless shrug. ''Just thought I'd catch up to you guys,''

Emma turned back to her paper as Al walked past her to his desk. They didn't speak after that, not that it was unusual, but it made studying her problem more complicated. If Al or any of her colleagues found out, they would report it to SHIELD right away. They didn't have the weariness that she did. They didn't mind that SHIELD would do whatever they wanted with their work or with them if they were ever exposed to something, but Emma did mind.

A few hours later she got results from her blood and could have screamed in frustration. Nothing was coming up on paper about whatever was happening to her, but it was all there physically. Her blood was still red, but Emma's trained eye could see the murkiness that was hidden inside. Alien blood was inside her, but she was certain that the neutralization injection had worked. She had been fine for so long and there were no other symptoms other than her horrifying nose bleed which had began to occur again that morning but was combated with multiple tissues.

The only option she had was to use another injection, but she still didn't know if it would work. She had no other options.

It had been a week and nothing had changed. Emma was getting extremely worried, so much that she'd been throwing up every time she worked on her blood samples, the idea of what could be happening frightening her to her core.

She wasn't getting anywhere and her nose bleeds were becoming more common as well as a constant state of illness because of worry and lack of neutralization injections which had been the only thing helping her. She couldn't rely on them though and had been rationing out each vial, hoping they'd last until she could find something to fix her. Fury had people monitoring their stock of the injections, soon they'd be asking questions.

As she walked down the hall with her file in her hands, Emma was deep in thought just as she had been for the past week. Every break she took from studying herself and working she used to think about how to fix it. It wasn't hurting her at the moment, but if she had alien blood in hers, there was going to be more happening to her than just nose bleeds.

''Emma,'' Steve called, walking out from one of the offices and seeing her headed for the stairs.

She didn't hear him though, her mind a million miles away.

''Hey,'' he walked over to her, his hand resting on her shoulder.

As soon as he made contact with her though, the file in her hands dropped to the ground as her body jolted in shock. When she turned and saw Steve, he had his hands up in surrender, an apologetic and worried look on his face.

''Sorry,'' he told her steadily.

''Oh, no it's fine,'' she shook her head, picking up the file. ''I...I wasn't with it,''

Steve helped her pick up the few pages that had fallen out, handing them to her as his eyes stayed on hers.

''Are you okay?''

''Oh yeah,'' she smiled, nodding convincingly. ''Long day, that's all,''

''You seem tired, exhausted actually,'' he told her as they began walking to the stairs.

''Yeah,'' she yawned. ''I'm headed home now so it's okay,''

''How long have you been here?''

''Six...teen hours,'' she shrugged, thinking. ''Something like that,''

''You shouldn't drive yourself home,'' he shook his head. ''Not when you're this tired, it's not safe,''

''Well they don't let cabs in here and I don't want to leave my car in the garage overnight,'' she explained. ''I'll be fine Steve, I've done it before,''

Steve frowned as they kept walking. They were on the ground floor now, but he wondered if Emma had walked all the way down the stairs from her floor. Something wasn't right. She was paler than usual. Her exhaustion was obvious too but Steve began to think she was sick. The idea of her driving home by herself in her condition didn't sit well with him.

When she began moving toward the door to the garage, Steve followed behind her.

''Rode your motorbike today?'' she asked, noticing him walking into the garage too.

''No, I'm driving you home,'' he told her, his hand reaching out. ''Give me the keys,''

Emma stared back at him in shock and confusion.

''Steve, I can drive myself home,''

''I think you're sick Emma, you don't look well,''

Emma thought, if only he knew what was really going on.

''And you don't look like you've had any sleep in days,''

''Enough about my looks, okay?'' Emma folded her arms as she mumbled. ''I'm fine to drive Steve, honestly,''

Steve stared back at her, no intention of taking no as an answer. If he let her drive her and something happened, he couldn't forgive himself. She was his friend and he was trying to look out for her.

''Keys,'' he said again, his hand waving with impatience.

Emma frowned and reached into her bag, her hands searching. A few moments later she pulled them out and tossed them into Steve's hands. There was no point arguing anymore, it was clear Steve was being insistent on this. She walked past him to the passenger seat, rubbing her eyes as she opened the door.  
Steve was glad she seemed too tired to continue her protests, he could tell she was a stubborn person. He understood that she was independent and didn't want any help, but he knew she couldn't drive home like this.

''What's your address?'' he asked.

Emma informed him quickly before she plonked herself down in the seat.

''I've never let anyone else drive my car before,'' she told him when he scooted into the driver's seat.

''I'll be careful,'' he said as he slid the keys into the ignition.

''You wouldn't have to worry about it if you just let me drive myself home,'' she sighed. ''You've probably been here all day too, don't you want to go home and rest instead of doing this?''

Steve turned his head as he began reversing, a slight smirk on his lips. He admired that even though she was exhausted and he was already driving, she was still trying to further her point in the already finished argument.

''I haven't been working for 16 hours straight,''

''Maybe not today, but you have before,'' she told him quietly, holding back another yawn.

''It doesn't effect me like it does to others,'' he told her.

Emma looked over to him and studied, remembering that he was a super-soldier. There was a lot of stuff that didn't effect him like others because of that serum Dr Erskine used on him. She had studied it before, whatever SHIELD had on it, and the idea of it enhancing someone so much was remarkable. However she kept forgetting that the subject of that serum was now her friend.

''Still, you're tired too, you shouldn't have to...'' she paused, taking a deep breath.

Steve looked over when she didn't finish her sentence, noticing her head now leaning against the window and her eyes struggling to stay open.

''Just let me take care of you, will you?'' he shook his head, her behavior reminding him of a child.

''No I'm not, _you_ are,'' she slurred back a him, pretending to banter on.  
Steve chuckled, his eyes moving from her sleepy figure and back to the road.

Every now and then he could hear her slight groans of annoyance as her head hit against the window and he made a note to try and take the corners a lot smoother. The address Emma told him was only just a few blocks away, but Steve was sure she was going to be sound asleep by the time they arrived. He was extremely glad he did insist on driving her home because her exhaustion had hit her so hard that he was sure she would have fallen asleep at the wheel.

When Steve drove up to Emma's building, he was taken by surprise at how modern and lavish it seemed, even from outside. It looked like a brand new building, but to Steve everything looked new. No matter how long he had been adjusting to the new world he was in, things were still daunting to him.

As he turned off the car, he looked over to Emma who seemed to be completely asleep. She looked too peaceful to disturb and for a moment, Steve found himself just staring. Her jet black hair mirrored silk as it fell over her shoulders and ran down to where her hands rested in her lap. Steve's lips pulled into a smile as he noticed her glasses had slid down her nose to the point where she would usually push them back up effortlessly.

Time seemed to have stopped and Steve didn't know how long they had been sitting there until a car down the road began beeping their horn at another in rage, causing Emma's eyes to flicker open. Her let out a long sigh as she rubbed her temples, adjusted her glasses and realized she was sitting in the passenger seat of her car.

''Steve?'' she looked over to him, her voice hoarse and quiet. ''Was I asleep?''

''Yeah, you were,'' he nodded.

''How long?''

''We just got here,'' he told her, hoping he wouldn't have to admit to watching her for a few minutes. ''Come on, I'll take you up to your apartment,''

Emma watched as he got out and walked around to her, waiting until he opened the door before she began arguing again.

''I can walk up to my apartment,'' she turned to him as he took her bag. ''I'm not an invalid,''

''Maybe not, but I'd feel better knowing you didn't pass out in the halls on the way,''

''What do you think is wrong with me? I'm just a little tired, I won't pass out,'' she shook her head, stepping out and shutting the door behind her.

''You're sick,'' he told her as if she wasn't aware. ''Look at how pale you are,''

''I'm always pale,''

''Not like this. I think you should go see your doctor,''

''A doctor can't help me,''

Emma almost chuckled at the idea, but she continued walking beside Steve into the building. When she tried to push the glass door open, she realized just how weak she was as Steve had to put his hand next to hers and push it open for her.

''Why not?'' Steve asked, ignoring his chance to point out her sudden weakness.

''Because if I am sick, there's nothing a doctor can do about it, because I'm _already_ sick,'' she tried to explain, following him to the elevator.

''You're difficult,'' he shook his head in amusement. ''Well at least take the day off tomorrow, have a rest,''

Emma remained silent as they stepped into the elevator, pressing her floor number and letting out another yawn. She couldn't believe how tired she became so quickly, or how weak she was feeling. Steve thought she was just coming down with the flu or something minor, and she wished that it was that simple.

They reached the ninth floor and the elevator stopped, Emma walking out and down the hall as Steve followed behind, still carrying her bag. Emma always noticed how different Steve was in comparison to other men considering he was from the 40's, but today she had really been reminded just how much of a gentleman he was.

When they reached her apartment, Emma unlocked the door and turned to Steve who held out the bag for her to take.

''Steve, thank you,'' she told him sincerely. ''I don't like being weak or sick or exhausted enough for someone to have to take care of me, so I know I was stubborn and all but I do appreciate you driving me home and making sure I'm okay,''

Steve smiled at her before he put his hand on her arm.

''It's no problem. Just make sure you get some rest,'' he told her before she nodded in agreement.

Emma looked down at her bag to make sure she had brought home everything she needed. Since she had left her lab, the whole afternoon had become a blur to her. As many times as she had driven herself home from the lab while being tired, she was sure that if Steve hadn't been so insistent on taking her home, she wouldn't have made it.

''Here,''

When Emma looked up again, Steve was holding out a piece of torn paper. On it were a row of digits with his name above them.  
''If you ever need anything, just call,''

''Steve, I don't want to bother you any more than I already have,''

''It's okay, and if it makes you feel any better I do have a lot of free time, so you're not bothering me. But I mean it. We're friends, so if you need help, just ask for it,''

Emma's heart warmed at his words.

''Thank you Steve,''

Opening her door, Emma didn't know whether to invite Steve in or not. She didn't want to be rude since he'd just wasted his afternoon taking her home and she thought she should at least offer him a coffee, but when she looked back at him he was already walking down the hall and back to the elevator. She smiled back at him before walking inside, wondering how she became so lucky as to become his friend.

Steve put his hands into his pocket as he stood at the elevator waiting, turning his head to look back at Emma's door which was now closed. She was right about being stubborn. Emma didn't like to accept help from anyone or have to ask for it, and in that way he reminded him of someone else he admired.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, I hope you're enjoying the story so far, there's plenty more interesting stuff to come. I've tried to space things out more to make it all seem less rushed, I just hope it doesn't come across that way. I like the write as realistically as I can, but sometimes I give in and then just let myself write whatever I want. **

**So I wanted to establish Steve and Emma's friendship a lot more in this chapter, but it'll continue on to the next one instead. I have it all written, but to include it all in this chapter would make it too long for my liking so I'll save it for next time. Just let me know if things seem rushed or a bit out of place. I value constructive criticism.**

**Also, I know some people are wondering what's going on with Emma and I'll explain that a lot more in the coming chapters. I like writing about this alien-blood and extraterrestrial stuff because I can take it in any direction I want, especially since this story isn't really connected to any of the movies. And about that, I just want to say that I definitely plan to moving into The Winter Soldier movieverse plot eventually, but it's a while away yet, it might even be a separate story once this one is done. My mind isn't made up if I want to include it in this story and make it a very long story, or just start another. But hey, that's so long away.**

**Thank you for reading :)**

* * *

Emma had only been home a few hours, but it felt like she had been sitting at her kitchen bench for days. In front of her was a syringe with the smallest amount of liquid inside. It was all that was left of the neutralization injection that she had taken from the lab days ago. She had to ration it out for as long as she could, but after the day she had, she needed the antibiotic. It was the only thing that was helping her ease the symptoms of whatever was happening to her, but if SHIELD found out she was using their supply, they would investigate. That was the last thing she wanted.

The only other way was to recreate the antibiotic on her own. She had helped create it, she knew the formula and what needed to be done and until she could get more research done of her condition, the neutralization antibiotic was the only thing that was going to keep her alive. If this alien blood was trying to kill her, she wasn't going to let it win.

''What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?'' Emma spoke to the empty apartment, picking up the syringe and studying the liquid inside. ''For a little while, anyway,''

Looking past the syringe in her hands and to the refrigerator behind, Emma's eyes locked on the piece of paper she had stuck on the door. Steve was too kind to offer his time to her, but she didn't intend to have to use it. He had done more than enough for her, she couldn't bring herself to ever need to ask him for anything more.

Emma couldn't tell him about this, not when Steve already had a very strong opinion about the way SHIELD operated. He knew what Emma did, but he didn't know what happened to her work once she was finished, just like she didn't. He didn't know that Emma took alien blood and object samples and turned them into enhancement drugs, handing them over to SHIELD without question. But she did question them, she just never got the answers she needed, and now it was too late.

Whatever SHIELD was planning to do with the serums she made, she was going to find out firsthand now just what they would do to someone.

* * *

Steve was pleased to know that Emma had taken the next day off work. She really didn't look well the day before and he was expecting her to ignore his advice and show up at SHIELD as normal, but it turned out that his words had gotten through to her. He wanted to know if she was alright, but he didn't feel right just stopping by her apartment unannounced. As glad as he was that she was at home resting, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that he wouldn't be seeing her that day.

Steve had grown fond of their meetings within the building, usually at the elevator as either of them were arriving and leaving. After spending time with so many people he didn't trust or agree with so much, seeing Emma made his day a whole lot better.

As he walked down the hall to Fury's office, his shield strapped to his back and dressed in his Captain America field uniform, Steve saw Natasha walking toward him with a smirk on her face. Steve's expression remained blank, he was used to not knowing what she was smirking or grinning about, but he had a feeling he was going to find out when she stopped in front of him, arms folded in front of her.

''Have you got the mission information?'' he asked.

''Yeah, better get a move on,'' she nodded, signalling for them to walk back to the elevator.

Steve didn't like when this happened. Fury was supposed to brief them on their mission, but Natasha always had the details before he did. She was the one who filled him in, but there had been a few times where she hadn't exactly told him everything that he would have liked to know about their duty.

''Where to?'' he asked, pressing the button to wait for the elevator.

''Few hours away. A group of scientists with an unhealthy obsession. They're trying to recreate whatever power the Tesseract held, apparently they've been working on it for months and SHIELD just picked up their signals they're emitting,''

''Is it possible to do that?'' Steve asked, walking into the elevator.

''Unlikely. That cube was Asgardian, you can't recreate it,'' she finished off. ''So, what were you doing down in the labs earlier on?''

Steve looked over to Natasha, his expression one of mixed confusion, annoyance and panic. Natasha's lips pulled up into another smirk, enjoying his reaction to her very simple question.

''Just checking on things,'' he told her bluntly.

Natasha must have been keeping an eye on him for some reason. How and why, he didn't know.

''What things?'' she asked again, pushing her hair out of her face.

''Why were you following me?'' he countered.

''I wasn't, I just saw you heading down there,'' she shrugged. ''Thought you might be visiting that scientist. What's her name?''

Steve glared over to Natasha.

''Can we just focus on the mission?''

''There's nothing wrong with taking an interest in a woman, Steve,'' she told him with a sigh as the elevator came to a stop at the garage.

''And what's with the sudden interest in me?'' he asked, following her over to her car.

''I'm observant Steve, I can't help that I notice these things,''

''So it's obvious?'' he asked, immediately over thinking her words.

Natasha grinned over to him.

''What's obvious?'' she asked, getting no response. ''Your interest?''

Steve looked away from her and opened the passenger door, placing his shield in the back seat as he waited for her to forget the topic and begin with the mission.

''I don't have an interest,'' he finally answered.

Natasha opened her door too and seated herself behind the wheel, staring over to Steve as he adjusted his seat belt.

''You know what _is_ obvious? You're sure as hell not a spy,''

* * *

Emma had been cooped up in her apartment for a week now. She had never in her life taken this much time off from work, but she doubted she ever had a reason as severe as the situation she was currently in. Alien blood was flowing through her veins and causing symptoms that she couldn't predict. There had been no cases of such a thing, SHIELD made sure of it. Emma was the scientist in charge of making sure that there were ways to prevent it, that SHIELD had all the necessary information to deal with anything extraterrestrial affecting humans.

For a week she had been studying the formula for the neutralization injections thoroughly from every angle, making sure she knew everything that she needed to replicate the antibiotic. She had saved the last of the injection until she really needed it, which was about two days ago. Emma had woken up in a puddle of black blood that had streamed from her nose. It was a disgusting sight, and it had been the tipping point. Not only had she been suffering the abnormal nose bleeds that were becoming more common and heavy, but she was more exhausted than ever. Her body was trying to get rid of the foreign blood and it was making her sick, but it just wasn't going away. She needed a much more potent version of the neutralization antibiotic, but she couldn't trust SHIELD to create it without reason.

''Finally,'' she sighed.

Emma pushed her notebook back onto the counter, a long groan escaping her lips. Her apartment had been covered in her notes for the past few days with pages or paper lying all over the place and crumpled up in balls. She hadn't eaten since yesterday and was only just realizing, but if she was going to go back to work tomorrow, she had to at least have some energy.

Walking down the hall the following day, Emma did her best to stand up straight and not look like she was going to pass out. Her skin had become paler than usual, her eyes dark with lack of sleep, but Emma knew that focusing on her looks was a lost cause. What she really needed to fix that day was her lack of antibiotics. She had the formula written down, everything she needed put into a list, and her lab was going to be free for the entire day.

Just as she reached the corner before her lab, Al came walking up to her with a wide grin on his face.

''Where have you been Austin?'' he asked loudly.

Emma could have dropped to the ground right there and then, his voice echoing in her head.

''Vacationing in Hawaii, you know, living the high life,'' she told him with a croaky voice, another one of her symptoms that stemmed from lack of sleep. ''What's got you so hyped?''

''Just got the grant I need for my research,'' he folded his arms proudly. ''I'm moving labs,''

That caught Emma's attention. For the past few months, she had only been sharing her lab with Al and his research team, but if he was moving, she was certain they would be too.

''That's cool, congratulations Al,'' she smiled. ''Where's your lab?''

''Other side of the building. Same floor though, so I'm sure I could stop by and help you out every now and then,'' he suggested.

''Oh come on Al, well all know I'm the one helping you when you get stuck,'' she reminded him jokingly, although she was completely serious. ''Well, it'll be quiet in the lab now,''

''Yeah, I think they were going to see if you needed a team actually, so maybe it won't be quiet for long,'' he informed.

''I can do just fine on my own for now,'' she shook her head. ''I guess I'll see you around Al,''

''I'm sure you will,'' Al chuckled. ''And go take a nap or something Austin, you look like hell,''

Emma smiled as he walked away, her lips slowly turning into a frown before she kept walking.

Everyone could tell she was sick, they all saw how bad she was looking, and yet she couldn't tell anyone what was going on. She had worked with these people for years and yet if any of them found out what was happening to her, they would tell SHIELD immediately. Not that she blamed them, it was the correct protocol. If anyone was exposed to foreign substances, they could infect everyone else. But alien blood that had been processed like this couldn't be transferred in any way other than through the bloodstream. Emma wasn't contagious in any way, however SHIELD would still put her into quarantine and run tests.

For the rest of the day, Emma worked harder than she had in a long time. With her lab door locked, her music blasting through the room, she gathered everything she needed and settled in for the afternoon. Making a more concentrated, potent version of the neutralization antibiotic wasn't exactly easy, but it wasn't difficult either. Emma knew what she was doing, she was trained in this and was part of the development of the antibiotic in the first place. She knew more about extraterrestrial beings and substances than anyone else at SHIELD, she could do this.

Late that night, when everyone in the labs around her had gone home, Emma was finished. She had made enough to last a month, or possibly a few, depending on how she rationed it out considering it was extremely potent. She had calculated that to stop the symptoms she was experiencing at the moment, she would need 3ml a day of the antibiotic. Although only time would tell how effective it was and how long it lasted.

After taking her first dose, Emma could already feel it taking effect. She wasn't so exhausted, she stood up straight and didn't ache, her nose didn't bleed and she didn't even feel sick. Emma had never been so relieved that her work was successful in her life. This was just the beginning though. She was sticking a band aid over a hole in a balloon that was inevitably going to pop. But she had suffered too much in this past week, she allowed herself this victory. It was always on her mind though. What else would happen to her? How far will it go? Will it kill her? What should she do? How can she fix it?

As Emma thought about all of these things, she walked out of her lab and began her journey to her car. It was ten at night and she had only just realized, again, that she hadn't eaten anything that day. Her hunger was obvious now after her dose of the antibiotic, almost unbearable.

''Emma!''

Turning at the familiar voice calling her, Emma saw Steve Rogers walking down the hall with a smile on his face. She hadn't seen him for an entire week and although it wasn't a long time, she couldn't help smiling at his grin. She had missed him.

''Hey Steve,'' she returned, pulling her long hair around to one side of her face. ''What are you doing here so late?''

''I stayed back to catch up on the never ending list of things I've missed, didn't realize it was dark outside,'' he told her with a sigh. ''How are you feeling? I didn't think you'd actually take a week off,''

Emma shrugged.

''Well, I knew I needed it. Couldn't stay in denial forever and I knew you'd keep telling me to go see a doctor,''

''You didn't see a doctor?'' his eyes narrowed, concern in his voice.

''No,'' she groaned. ''What's a doctor going to do that I can't?''

''Prescribe medicine, the correct medicine, to help you,'' he pointed out, folding his arms.

''I didn't need medicine, I just needed some time. I feel much better now anyway,'' she told him with a smile, her words genuine. ''Even have my appetite back,''

Steve took a moment to let his eyes very quickly scan over her body, noting that she had indeed lost some weight over the past two weeks from whatever illness she had. She had looked so frail and weak, but it was nice to finally see her with a light in her eyes like before and not just tiredness.

''That's good to hear,'' he nodded.

''In fact I'm definitely stopping somewhere for dinner before I go home,'' she put her hand on her grumbling stomach, frowning at how starved she felt.

''Dinner? It's ten at night,'' Steve looked down at his watch, making sure he was right.

''Yeah but I'm so hungry,'' she laughed, knowing how desperate she sounded. ''There's a 24 hour diner a few blocks from my apartment,''

''They have those?'' Steve questioned.

''Yeah, they're getting more common. People work different shifts in the city, no one sleeps at the same time around here, or at all,'' she informed him before her stomach rumbled again, reminding her she needed food immediately. ''I really have to go and get something to eat. You hungry?''

Steve thought for a moment, knowing that he could probably use a meal after his many hours spent reading and watching over all the events he'd missed. He would never fully be caught up with today, but he was happy with how much he knew already. Steve had never really spent any time outside of SHIELD with Emma apart from driving her home and getting a lift from her that one time.

The idea of spending more time with her was appealing, but Natasha's comments earlier in the day made him hesitant. He knew himself that he had an attraction to the woman, but he didn't know what others could see that too. They barely knew each other, he was embarassed by how much he liked her because he knew that she didn't feel the same about him. He didn't want to ruin the friendship they had, but he just couldn't say no to seeing her. Steve wanted to know her more. Emma knew almost everything about Steve, the whole world did, but he knew next to nothing about her life.

''Yeah,'' he nodded with a smile. ''Starving actually,''

''Great, I'll drive,''

When Steve thought of a 24 hour diner a few blocks from Emma's apartment, he was sure that he was going to walk into some modern age restaurant full with people who all lived the night life from the way Emma explained it to him again, but he was very wrong. The diner they arrived at was nothing like a modern day fancy restaurant, in fact it reminded him more of the sort of diner he was used to.

There were two other people in diner as they walked inside, sitting in the corner drinking coffee and trying to stay away. They looked like they were night maintenance workers, their boots covered in rubble and dirt. Emma's smile widened as she noticed the woman standing behind the counter, barely awake and scribbling in her crossword book.

''Hey Maggie,''

The woman looked up then, a smile spreading across her lips too when she saw the person in front of her.

''Well, well,'' the older woman folded her arms. ''I thought you'd traded my diner in for some other fancy overpriced one,''

''No way,'' Emma shook her head firmly as if the idea was insane. ''You guys have my favorite burger in the city, I can't leave that,''

''And here I was thinking it was my beautiful personality that kept bringing you back,'' Maggie chuckled. ''You haven't been in for over a month,''

''Busy, busy, busy,'' Emma groaned, picking up two menus. ''I'll be sure to order enough food to make up for it though,''

Steve watched as Emma turned to him and nodded over to a booth in the middle of the diner by the window. Maggie stared at Steve, knowing that it was exactly who she thought, but she didn't say a word as she watched them both take their seat.

* * *

***Also you may have noticed how I like to include songs in my chapters, that'll be continuing as well. I love hearing songs that remind me of characters and including them in the chapters really gives the scene I'm writing a lot more, so I hope you guys like that. If you have any song suggestions that would work, I'd love to hear them. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, another chapter here!**

**(I know this was a super quick update but it's not the longest chapter and it's basically part 2 of the previous chapter, so here you go)**

**I just want to thanks those who are reading and following this story, I appreciate you investing time into it because it's going to get a whole lot more interesting in the coming chapters and I'm so glad you've got me in alerts so you can see new chapters right away! I'll usually update every few days, whenever I have time to get online or I'm excited to get a chapter out. I hope it's grabbed your attention by now because, like I said, I have a lot planned.**

**I really want to explore Steve and Emma's friendship, but I feel like the two characters have built up a lot of tension. You know those relationships where you just know they'll end up together? That's how I want their relationship to be viewed, as if they're already good friends because they like each other so much. I just don't want to rush their relationship, but I think I've found a way to make it a smooth transition with the events that'll be unfolding. **

**Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing, I love hearing from you all. :)**

* * *

Tapping her fingers against the table, Emma looked over the menu she almost memorized a long time ago. When SHIELD first transferred her here to work, Emma knew nothing about the city. She was from a split family and she only ever traveled to two different places; L.A and Sydney, Australia. But she was nothing if not independent. She had found this diner about six months after moving here when she was finally game enough to get out and explore instead of constantly working. Maggie grew to know her and everything she liked, always providing her with some free meals after she had worked into the early hours of the morning again.

''I want everything,'' she sighed, tossing the menu down onto the table.

Steve looked up and laughed at how hungry she looked, almost drooling over each option as she read over the entire menu again. It was nice to see her like this, and Steve was only just noticing something that should have been screaming out to him from how different it made her look. She wasn't wearing her white lab coat.  
Instead she wore a long sleeved black shirt that clung tight to her skin, hugging her perfectly. He shouldn't have noticed it right now, he knew he was staring as she glanced over to him.

Luckily, he spoke up before she had the chance to mention anything.

''What do you suggest?'' he smiled. ''You seem like a regular at this place,''

Emma grinned at him. It had been hard not to notice his stares every now and then, and she couldn't help that it made butterflies swarm in her stomach. To say Steve Rogers was attractive was a dramatic understatement and she hadn't missed any of his appeal at all. She found him so charming and sweet, it was hard not to stare at him every now and then as well.

They were friends, becoming good friends. She enjoyed his company more than anyone else's lately, not that she spent time with other people. Just speaking to him for even a minute made her forget what was going on with her and what was happening, as if he made things better for her. But they were just friends.

''I always get the chicken burger,'' she confessed. ''It's a simple choice, but it's officially the best burger I've ever eaten in my life,''

Steve nodded with an impressed look on his face.

''Can't say not to that then,''

''Absolutely not,'' Emma agreed, rubbing her hands together in anticipation as Maggie walked over.

''Let me guess, chicken burger,'' the woman began writing on her notepad.

''Make it two,'' Emma beamed, glad that Steve took her suggestion.

''Did she force you into ordering it too?''

Steve chuckled. ''I trust her judgement, ma'am,''

''And a chocolate milkshake,'' Emma continued. ''With whipped cream. Make that two as well,''

When Maggie finished taking their orders and making a few more jokes about how eager Emma was to eat, she left the two of them alone in their booth as she walked away. It was now 10.40 pm and Emma had never felt so awake. Because of her late night shifts and habit of always doing them, she had grown used to getting into bed in the early hours of the morning. The antibiotic she took that night before she left the Triskellion re-energized her entirely.

Steve didn't exactly go to bed early either. If he wasn't at the gym or going for a run, he was sitting in his apartment looking over photos he had glanced at many times before. Photos of his friends he fought alongside, how their life was now and how they ended, everything that he missed. Peggy Carter was still a sensitive topic, but he had learned that what they had was lost in the past. He visited her too, every week. Her illness made her forget each time Steve stopped by, making it a painful reunion for her each time.

That life was gone now. The life he could have had when he came home from war, his life he could have had with Peggy, it was all buried in the ice that day. But he was here now, he couldn't let it all go past him again. He had to keep going.

''Hey Steve?''

Emma waved her hand in front of his face, causing Steve to blink a few times before humming in response.

''You okay?'' she asked.

''Oh yeah,'' he snapped out of his state. ''Just...thinking,''

''Yeah I got that,'' she chuckled lightly. ''Anything you want to talk about?''

''No, it's fine. I just got caught up in my own head,''

''It happens,'' she nodded.

There was brief pause before Steve remembered what he was hoping for out of their late evening, apart from a meal. He wanted to get to know her.  
''So, are you from Washington?'' he asked, moving to lean against the back of the chair as he rested his arms on the table.

Emma shook her head, looking out the window.

''No, I'm from a few places,'' she sighed. ''Split family. My dad's in L.A and my mom was from Australia,''

Steve's eyes widened.

''So you traveled back and forth?'' he asked, surprise in his voice.

''Yeah, the commute was just as terrible as you think it was. I'd spend a few weeks in Australia with my mom and then fly back and stay with my dad. I had a _lot_ of frequent flyer miles by the time I was a teenager,'' she joked.

Emma thought back to those days when she would arrive at the airport as it were her second home, or third rather. It was a long flight either way, but she loved her parents and she made it work. It all seemed so long ago now.

''What about you? Have you always been from Brooklyn?''

Steve wasn't surprised at all that she knew where he was from, everyone did. His life was in history books for the world to read.

''Yeah, the only travelling I did was during the war,'' he explained. ''But the Brooklyn I knew isn't the same as the one I visited a while ago,''

''I guess nothing's the same anymore. I can't imagine how daunting it would be. I mean, I thought moving away to a city on my own was scary,''

Looking out the window at the traffic passing by, the lights shining from a few blocks away and some of the tallest buildings he had ever seen, Steve could see how moving to a place like this would be frightening. What he had been through, although very different, could easily be compared to Emma's situation. But Emma was familiar with cities and people and high rise buildings, Steve wasn't.

Emma had moved from place to place her whole life, Steve had woken up in a whole new world.

''So which did you prefer?'' Steve asked. ''Australia or L.A?''

''Hmm, I prefer Washington actually,'' she told him with a smile. ''I have no ties here, I have my own life, I like that,''

''Do you still visit?''

Emma shrugged. ''I see my dad once in a while during the year on special occasions. He's remarried with a family now he's a lawyer so he's pretty busy,''

''What about your mom? Do you still go to Australia?''

''My mom passed away,'' she looked up at him. ''About eight years ago. Cancer.''

Steve's grin fell as she explained. He hadn't expected it, but he should have known better than to assume. He just wanted to get to know about her life more, but now he felt that he had asked too many questions, that he was prying.

Losing a parent was familiar to him. Steve's mother died of tuberculosis and his father had died in the war. But just because he could relate didn't mean he knew how she felt,

''I'm sorry,'' he told her softly.

Emma shook her head.

''It was eight years ago, it doesn't sting so much anymore. But to your question, no. I don't visit anymore, I haven't been in, well, eight years,''

There was a moment of silence between them as Steve wondered what to say. Emma didn't like that she had made their conversation darker now, she didn't like it that way. She wanted to talk to him and get to know him as much as he did. Emma wanted to know what he was really like, not what the books and the reports told her.

However the typical 'get to know you' questions weren't going to work in this situation.

''What do you hate the most about the city?'' she asked, changing the topic entirely.

Steve thought for a moment. There were many things he disliked about it, so much that he was having trouble picking the worst.

''The people could be nicer,'' he nodded, still trying to pick. ''Coffee could be cheaper,''

''Hey I said what do you hate _most_?'' she reminded. ''We could go on for days about how the world's society has gone down hill since the 40's,''

They both chuckled before Steve let out a long sigh, still thinking.

''Traffic,'' he concluded.

Emma looked at him with disappointment.

''There's thousands of things to hate about the city and you go with traffic,'' she shook her head, beginning to laugh.

Steve rolled his eyes with a grin. ''What do you hate the most then?''

''The people,'' Emma nodded immediately, not needing any time at all to decide on her answer. ''Well, a majority of them. I won't go as far as to say they're all assholes. Just most of them,''

''Bad experience?''

''I worked on weekends at a cafe in L.A when I was a teenager and that's when I realized that people are just gonna be rude for no reason at all. You can be completely pleasant, smile all the time and they will _still_ treat you like crap. I live in the busiest part of this place and work in a building of with hundreds of other people and I have yet to be proven wrong,''

Steve wondered why she had made an exception for him then if she thought that a majority of everyone she met were all the same. It wasn't the most positive outlook on the situation, but he supposed she had been dealing with those sort of people for a lot longer than he had. He started wondering a lot of things then about how she thought of him. Emma didn't seem stressed or frustrated when she was around Steve, and he wondered if he was somehow taking an effect on her. In a good way.

Before anything else could be said on that topic, Maggie walked over with their milkshakes. Emma's eyes looked like they had grown three sizes when Steve glanced over to her. She was staring at the milkshake as if she had never seen one before. The way she got excited over something like that was adorable to Steve.

''This is the best milkshake I've ever had,'' she told him before picking up the cherry on top and licking off the cream.

Steve looked down at the drink in front of him, glad that in all of the years he had missed, milkshakes had not changed at all.

Silence fell over them for a few moments as they began drinking their milkshakes, Emma stopping for a few seconds at one stage to deal with a brain freeze. Steve had to admit it was worthy of the title Emma gave it, and he was only now realizing something else as he tasted the chocolate treat.

''This is my first milkshake in almost seventy years,'' he confessed, a look of delight on his face as he stared over to Emma.

Once again, her eyes were wide behind her glasses as she licked away a milk mustache that Steve couldn't help laughing at.

''Seriously?'' she asked with a grin matching his own. ''Wow. So this is like a 21st century milestone for you,''

Steve nodded. ''Yeah I guess it is,''

''I'm honored to share it with you,'' she held up her glass which was now almost empty.

Picking his up as well, they clinked their tall glasses together with a smile. Emma really did think it was a special moment. There was so much he had missed and had yet to catch up on, but she was beyond happy to be around when he experienced something for the first time again since waking up to his new world.

Just as they finished the last of their milkshakes, Maggie walked back over and placed their meals in front of them. The burger was huge and Emma was having doubts about her ability to finish it, but she had a reputation in this diner she had to uphold.

''Prepare yourself for another milestone Steve,'' she clapped her hands together. ''This will be the best burger you've ever had,''

By the time they left the diner, it was past midnight, but it didn't seem late at all to either Steve or Emma. They were still talking and laughing when it hit 12. 15 am and Emma glanced down at her watch, surprised by the time. It felt like they had only just arrived a moment ago.

Emma knew she liked Steve's company, but having a meal with him in the middle of the night made her realize just how fond of him she really was. She could have sat there until daylight just talking to him. Steve had asked her about her childhood and where she grew up, about Australia and her mother, her half-brother, almost everything about her life up until she moved to Washington. She had explained to him how SHIELD approached her when she was in University and offered her a chance to continue her study and research with them at their facility and how she couldn't wait to start a new life on her own.

Steve found everything she said fascinating. Hearing someone else's life story was always interesting to him, but Emma's was full of experiences he never thought he would live to hear of. But she didn't let him ask all the questions, interrogating him about life in the 40's, his family and his friends. Most of Steve's story Emma knew, just like every other American, but it was different hearing it from Steve himself. He hadn't really talked about his old life with anyone in a long time. It was hard for Steve to talk about Bucky, it always would be, but the man was a big part of him and telling Emma about his life wouldn't be right without including Bucky in it.

***Also, I'm sorry this chapter is a little shorter than usual, but I will make up for it by making the next one longer!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I hope this chapter makes up for how short the previous one was. Steve and Emma's relationship will be progressing a bit in this chapter but I hope it doesn't seem out of place. I feel like there's a lot of tension between them and they already know that they have feelings for one another, so I hope you enjoy it.**

**Also I know my updates have been very frequent and that's because as soon as I'm finished writing a chapter I can't help but upload it right away. However I'm trying to space them all out even though I've written about two more chapters that will come after this one already, but I'll try and space them out. I just like sharing them right away, I need to control myself.**

**Anyway thanks for reading and as always, I love hearing from you all! :)**

* * *

The next day, Steve walked into the training room at SHIELD while a yawn escaped his lips. It was only 5.30 am and considering the time he arrived home earlier that morning, Steve managed to pull himself from the comfort of his bed and commit to his weekly session. He preferred working out on his own either running the streets of Washington in the early morning or hiding out at a quiet gym late at night. However SHIELD had facilities specific to his needs and strengths, he knew he had to take advantage of that every now and then.

Natasha was already there when he arrived, her bright red hair pulled up into a messy ponytail on top of her head as she stretched her legs and arms expertly. When she saw Steve walking in with tired eyes, her lips quieted up into her usual smirk.

"Morning Rogers," she smiled over to him.

"Didn't you have a mission this morning?" Steve asked, immediately confused by her presence.

The training room was always reserved on Fridays for Steve, but Natasha was welcomed whenever.

"That took me five minutes," she shrugged.

Steve wasn't surprised that her morning mission took less than an hour to complete. Missions were second nature to her, she could do them on autopilot and still manage to do a better job than an attack team. He began strapping his hands ready to begin his workout on the punching bag when he noticed Natasha walking over to the bars beside the bag and beginning some pull ups.

Natasha was doing missions almost everyday, it was hard to believe she had time to work out considering she really didn't need to. But Natasha made sure her body was prepared for anything on the field and that meant taking every opportunity to train, to be better than she already was.

''What'd you get up to last night?'' Natasha asked in a strained voice as she held herself up.

Steve threw a few punches at the bag before he responded.

''Looked over some past missions, it's taking a while to catch up on everything,''

''I'd imagine it would,'' she nodded. ''What about after that?''

Looking over at the woman, Steve immediately knew that Natasha knew something. He didn't know how she managed to keep tabs on him all the time without him even knowing, but she was a spy. Probably the best at SHIELD, along with Agent Barton. Hiding and lying were her specialties.

''I grabbed some food and went home,'' he told her before throwing a few more punches at the bag that swung around in front of him.

''That's all?'' she asked.

Steve could almost hear the smirk in her voice.

''If you already know, why are you asking me?'' he shook his head. ''And why are you following me around?''

Natasha rolled her eyes.

''You act like I follow you around on purpose Rogers,''

''Well you can't follow me around accidentally, can you?''

''You were still here when I left yesterday afternoon and I happened to drive past your building later and didn't see your bike. I was coming by SHIELD to check up on you and I saw you leaving with that scientist,'' she explained. ''It wasn't my intention to spy on you,''

Steve pressed his lips together, stepping away from the bag.

''Although it's becoming a habit,''

''I told you when you took the offer to come to Washington that I'd look out for you,'' she reminded him, pulling herself up on the bars again.

''I guess I just don't agree with your methods,''

''What can I say? I'm a spy, it's hard for me not to be thorough when checking up on people,'' she admitted.

''I appreciate you checking up on me, I do,'' he told her with a nod. ''But I don't need you to. I'm fine, and I can take care of myself,''

''I know that,'' she shrugged. ''I just have a habit on keeping tabs, it's a bit hard to break but I'll tone it down if it makes you happy,''

Steve gave her a soft smile, appreciating that she now understood.

''Thank you,''

There was another moment of silence between them as Natasha done a few more pull ups. Steve thought their conversation was settled and over when he began to punch against the bag, trying to actually begin his work out. However Natasha apparently wasn't finished with the topic.  
''So what's her name again?'' she asked, an innocent grin on her lips.

Steve had no doubt that she would already know Emma's name, but she enjoyed getting information straight from him. He had caught on to a few of her tactics and began to understand how she preferred to work, and for the sake of sparing an unnecessary argument, he told her.

''Emma,''

''Just Emma, huh?''

''I would doubt that you haven't already searched SHIELD's system and read her file,'' he looked over to her.

Natasha's lips pulled up into a smile.

''Xenoarchaeology. Quite impressive work,'' she began, her knowledge confirming Steve's suspicions. ''Without her research SHIELD wouldn't have extraterrestrial defense weapons being developed,''

Steve looked over to her.

''Emma has nothing to do with weapons,''

''No but she makes formulas and breaks down alien biopsies and blood that help make those weapons. It's not hard to see why SHIELD chose her to bring in,''  
Emma had already told Steve what she did at SHIELD, but hearing Natasha explain it to him really made him see just how critical her work here was. Working on the field and in the lab differed greatly, but the outcome of their work happened to be equally necessary.

''So when will you see her next?''

Steve rolled his eyes again, sighing as he moved close to the bag and wondered if he would ever get through his session without having to speak about his personal life.

''Don't know,''

''Well did you ask her out again?''

''I didn't ask her out to start with,'' he explained. ''We're just friends,''

Natasha fell silent for a moment.

''You need to work on your observation skills Rogers,''

* * *

Emma had been working in her lab on her own for the past week and had found it to be one of the best things to happen to her since joining SHIELD. Al and his team were nice people, but Emma couldn't work with them. Their methods, their group discussions and they way they chose to work just didn't sit well with her at all. She preferred to work on her own where no one could argue with her or get in her way.

With the amount of work she had managed to complete over the many late nights at the lab, Emma found that during the day she could spend as much time as she wanted researching her own blood cells. She still didn't know what was happening to her body apart from the fact it was rejecting the foreign cells that were invading it. The only progress she had made was the injection she had been taking. Emma had altered it to be extremely potent and more durable since she had found the previous doses wore off after 24 hours.

Every test she did on her blood was only telling her what she already knew. Something wasn't right. Cells were abnormal.

It was the next week when Emma finally found some answers. As she sat in the lab in the afternoon staring at her computer screen, she picked up one of the newer tests she had done and her eyes widened in shock. She didn't know how she had missed it, but now that she had the two results in front of her, it was hard not to notice. Emma's blood cells had merged with the alien cells.

Emma's blood was creating a defensive layer around it, an unnatural forcefield. The alien blood she had used that day when the accident happened was going to be sent to the fridge to be used for weapons because of the durability she had found in the Chitauri blood and the liquid in the alien weapons. It wasn't a mystery why her body was reacting in such a way anymore. Her blood was trying to protect itself from something that was already inside. The blood wasn't hurting her, it wasn't poisoning her like she thought it was. It was becoming part of her.

It was late afternoon during the same week that Steve stood in the SHIELD cafeteria staring at the board above him. Coffee prices continued to amaze him. But it wasn't the prices he was focusing on at the moment. It had only just dawned on him that it had been over two weeks since he had seen Emma. Their late night meal at the diner had been the last time he had spoken to her and it made him wonder why he hadn't met up with her at the elevator like they used to.  
It wasn't that he was too shy to go see her, he just didn't now if she wanted to see him. Steve knew her work was stressful and she had a lot to do and so did he, but it didn't feel right that they hadn't ran into one another.

''Captain Rogers?''

Steve's attention turned to the man standing behind the counter, waiting for his order.

''A...medium...latte,'' Steve told him, still unsure of how to order the right coffee.

The man nodded with a smile before beginning to make the order. Steve continued staring up at the board when he felt a presence beside him. The bright red hair gave the identity away before Steve turned to her. Natasha's smirk never seemed to leave her face when she looked at him.

''You should have ordered two,'' she told him.

''Do you want a coffee?'' he asked, confused.

''No, but I'm sure scientist sitting in her lab all day by herself would love one,''

Steve sighed and turned away.

''We're just friends,''

''Friends can bring each other coffee,'' Natasha pointed out.

''I'm sure her colleagues would have done that already,''

''What colleagues? The team in her lab were transferred. She works there on her own now,''

Steve looked to the woman, wondering if she was telling him the truth.

''How do you know?''

''I told you, I have a habit of keeping tabs,'' Natasha folded her arms, taking a step back. ''So order another coffee and go visit, I'm sure she'd really appreciate the company,''

Steve was amazed at how Natasha managed to catch on to whatever he was thinking. Emma had been on his mind all morning for some reason, and for once he tried not to over think he decision to go see her.

After grabbing an extra cup of coffee and making his way up to Emma's floor, Steve quickly found the lab he remembered she worked in and knocked. Instead of being welcomed inside though, Steve could hear music blaring through the room and began to push the door open. He had noticed how music was a big part of her life, and when he walked inside and saw her dancing in her white lab coat, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips.

_''Nothin's the matter with your head, baby, find it, come on and find it. Hey, hell, with it, baby, 'cause you're fine and you're mine and you look so divine,''_

Steve closed the door behind him and stood there now, an amused grin on his face as he waited for her to spot him.

_''Come and get your love. Come and get you love,''  
_  
Emma sang as she danced around her lab, her feet moving over one another in a perfect rhythm that matched the beat of the song. Nothing made her feel better than music and dancing, and since she had just taken another dose of her blood neutralizer and had made a tiny bit of progress on her condition that day, she couldn't help celebrating when she heard one of her much loved songs start playing.

When she spun around one more time, her eyes happened to lock on the figure standing by her door. Letting out a surprised gasp, Emma stopped moving immediately and covered her mouth with her hand. Steve had his hands full with coffee, staring over at the woman with a grin on his face as if he was about to burst into laughter. Instead, Emma began chuckling loudly, moving her hands up to cover her face in embarrassment.

''Busted,'' she shook her head, peaking through her fingers as Steve walked over to her.

''Don't let me stop you,'' he insisted. ''I just thought you'd want a coffee,''

Emma's mouth fell open at the cup as he handed it to her.

''Coffee,'' she sighed, a smile on her lips. ''I needed coffee, thank you,''

Steve made a mental note to always listen to Natasha's advice from now on. She was proving to be right about most things he hadn't asked for her opinion on.

''I tend to either get extremely tired or hyper without my coffee,'' she explained before taking a sip of the hot liquid. ''Thank you,''

''It's no problem,'' he shook his head, his left hand sliding into his pocket.

Emma had noticed that he tended to slip his hands into his pockets whenever he didn't know what to say. She smiled at his little movement, knowing that he solely came to her lab just to see her. She had also realized it had been a while since they'd seen one another, and although she had a lot going on right now, she always wished she had the time to go and spend time with him again. That night at the diner was the best she'd had in a long time. Not once did she think of what was happening to her, he made her forget all the negativity.

Although she was sure she was coming close to another solution she could try. Her body was growing more defensive every day against the blood in her system, but since it was merging with her own, it was almost as if the alien blood was protecting her but hurting her at the same time. It was a messy situation, and she understood the severity of it, but right now she didn't want to think about it. For weeks she had been stuck in the lab on her own working on her condition, but now that Steve was here, she just wanted to talk to him.

The last thing that should have been on her mind right now was her affection toward the super soldier, but it was becoming difficult when he was the only person at SHIELD, and within the city even, that she wanted to be around.

Steve had wandered over to where the music was playing now, looking over all of the CD's that Emma had piled up next to the stereo. His eyes widened at the vast range of genres she had, unaware of who most of the artists were. Steve had been trying to catch up on music he had missed, although since it wasn't his highest priority, he usually ended up listening to the same music he remembered from his younger years in Brooklyn.

''You can put on one that you like,'' Emma suggested, moving to stand beside him.

Steve's hands rummaged through the CD's, but he just gave her a light smile and shook his head.

''Can't say I know any of them,'' he told her, slightly embarrassed.

''You can take some if you want, listen to them and tell me what you think,'' she offered.

''Oh, you don't have to,''

''I want to,'' she insisted, an excited grin on her face. ''I'll give you the ones I like best,''

Watching Emma as she expertly moved around each of the square CD cases, Steve had to admit to himself that he was looking forward to hearing music that she deemed as her favorite. He wasn't familiar with much of any music these days, but if he was going to be introduced to something new, he knew he'd appreciate it a lot more knowing that Emma recommended it to him.

Steve couldn't believe how consumed he had become by the woman. When he didn't see her, he missed her, and when he did see her he couldn't help feeling like he needed her to know how he felt. He hadn't been on any dates since waking up from the ice, he hadn't even considered having feelings for any women at all. It had been so hard to let go of Peggy Carter, but he would never completely. He knew he had to move on in that area of his life, but it hadn't mattered to him until he started seeing Emma in a new light.

_''Give me love like her, 'cause lately I've been waking up alone,''  
_  
Emma continued picking through the CD's she had as Ed Sheeran's voice rang through the room, pulling herself up to sit on the table beside her stereo. Deep in thought about which ones she should recommend to Steve given that this would be his first experience with the type of music she listened to, Emma swung her legs off the side of the table happily, looking up at Steve with a smile before resuming. She hadn't even noticed that he had been staring at her the whole time.

_''Give me love like never before, 'cause lately I've bee craving more,''_

Steve knew that if she looked up again and saw him watching her, he wouldn't be able to explain himself. He just couldn't stop admiring her. Her jet black hair was pulled to one side of her face, flowing down her chest, giving him full view of her face. Steve found her absolutely beautiful, so much so that he couldn't put it into words. The black glasses that were always resting on her nose sat perfectly in front of her hazelnut eyes as she read the back of the CD's.

_''All I want is the taste that your lips allow. My, my, my, my, oh give me love,''_

Emma's eyes snapped up to his then as if she could feel his stare on her. Steve didn't say anything when she turned to him and neither did she. The tension of their gaze was unmistakable. Emma shouldn't have been feeling anything for the man. He was just being a friend, she had to convince herself to stop reading into things. But it was difficult when things were so obvious.

_''My, my, my, my, oh give me love,''_

She shouldn't have been thinking of anything in her personal life other than what was going on with her body now, but she couldn't help that she had feelings for Steve. She didn't even know if whatever she was dealing with could be fixed, she didn't have time to have feelings for anyone. But any time Steve was in the room, her mind forgot about all of those things.

''I uh,'' Emma jumped down from the table. ''I found a few albums you might like. I didn't want to overwhelm you with too much because, well, I have a lot of music to choose from,''

Steve nodded, probably more than he should have, as she walked over to him and handed him the CD's.

''Thanks,'' he spoke quietly.

Emma smiled up at him. ''Let me know if you like them,''

* * *

**Told you guys I like to incorporate music! That'll be continuing a lot through my story as well, I love how much it adds to what's happening. If you have any song suggestions, let me know!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I know, I know, another chapter, I'm probably annoying everyone with updates but I can't help myself when I upload a chapter here I just have to update it while I'm here! Also I have the next 2 or 3 chapters already written so I thought I'd just update now. It gives me more motivation to write when I update.**

**Anyway I hope you're enjoying the story so far. This chapter is going to be kind of intense so I hope you guys don't take a disliking to it, but this chapter is sort of where all the big stuff begins, you'll see what I mean. I just hope you like it! **

**As usual, you can contact me via review or PM to let me know if anything about the story isn't sitting well with you or you have some constructive criticism, I'm always happy to listen and hear from you all. **

* * *

That day in the lab with Steve was the last good day she had.

When Emma discovered that her blood became easier to study when there was no neutralization antibiotic in her cells, she had immediately stopped her dosages. She could function without them, it just made things a lot harder. The nose bleeds came back two days later and so did her exhaustion, but she couldn't stop searching for answers.

Emma was sick of not knowing what was going on. This was her body and something was inside of it changing her, and she was going to stop it. Anything extraterrestrial was fascinating to her and she had spent a majority of her life amazed by it, studying all she could. But now that something alien was infecting her, it was as if she didn't know the slightest thing about the issue.

''Come on!''

Emma slammed down the microscope on the desk, frustrating with what she was seeing. Without the antibiotic, it was all clear to her. The blood cells had merged beyond the point of return. It was altering her genetic makeup. It was changing her from the inside out, and Emma wasn't sure how far it was going to go.

It had been days now without the antibiotic and Emma was feeling every single ache in her body. It seemed that her symptoms had excelled quite a lot without her even knowing thanks to the injection. The nose bleeds had spread to blood pooling in her mouth now as well. Not only was her body weak and frail, but she had recently discovered that on her shoulder her skin was becoming grey as if the black blood was coming to the surface. It was terrifying to witness her body go through so much without her knowing what any of it was, but she didn't know what to do anymore.

It had been over a month since her first symptoms and Emma had been handling it just fine, but now that she was seeing how serious things were becoming, she finally realized that she had no where else to go. She had reached a dead end. Emma's job was to take things from aliens, study then and hand the information over to SHIELD. She had never been granted approval to test her findings on humans and she would never agree to doing such a thing, but because of that, she now had nothing to work with.

Emma continued to look over her notes, pausing occasionally to fix a nose or mouth bleed. It had taken two days before she found a reason for the bleeding, and although she was relieved to get some answers, she wasn't thrilled with what they were. The alien blood was creating a shield around her internal organs, acting as a defense against unknown substances which just so happened to be the alien blood itself. The blood was adapting her insides from human to alien, but her body was rejecting the whole transition.

Alien and human blood were never meant to be mixed or merged. The cells were too different, too unnatural. Alien blood was too powerful to flow through the veins of a human while they remained alive. Without the antibiotic, Emma could see everything that was happening to her now. With this knowledge, Emma could only conclude one thing about the whole ordeal. The alien blood was killing her.

* * *

It was late one night when Steve returned home from his mission with Natasha. It had been his first in over a week and it surprised him that it had taken so long. Setting his shield down in the corner of his apartment, Steve began to strip off the Captain America suit and tossed it into the laundry before taking a shower. Coming home from missions or a busy day was the only time Steve enjoyed being in his apartment. The day was over and he could just go to sleep, despite occasional nightmares and inability to sleep at all some nights.

Steve have been living on his own for a long time now and it wasn't he solitude that bothered him really. He had all the space he needed to catch up on everything he had missed which included going through the list he had been making. Any time someone mentioned anything that defined a certain era or moment in history, he would write it on the list and make his way through it. He enjoyed that, no matter how much it reminded him of what he had missed.

The real trouble with being on his own though was the fact that he had too many thoughts going through his mind. Waking up after almost 70 years isn't just something you can forget, and it was taking Steve a long time to let go of some things.

When Steve walked out of the bathroom with his black sweatpants and t-shirt on, his eyes fell on the stack of CD's that Emma had given him. With a smile at the memory, Steve grabbed one and put it into his player as he carried on around his apartment. His usual routine was coming home and grabbing one of the many files SHIELD provided him with. Every mission he would be interested in, the lives of the people he used to know, everything he missed that SHIELD knew he would want to see. But right now, after the long day he had, he just sat there on the couch and closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh in content.

_''Baby, I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time, and maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you.''_

Steve looked over to the CD he had picked at random. Paul McCartney. The name sounded familiar to him, probably due to the fact that everyone recommended various artists to him, he couldn't keep up. The melody was nice, but it was the words that managed to get through to him in a way he hadn't expected.

_''Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time, you hung me on the line. Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you,''_

Emma. She was the only person that was coming into his mind, and he hadn't even realized how his lips were already pulled up into a smile at just the thought of her.

_''Baby, I'm a man, maybe I'm a lonely man who's in the middle of something that he doesn't really understand,''_

Steve really wanted to see her. He missed her voice, he missed being in her presence, he missed when their arms were rest against each other in the elevator every time they ran into each other. The smile on her face when she saw him and how it mirrored his own delight.

There was something about her that just got to him in a way that no one had in a long time. He couldn't even specify what it was exactly, but he knew it was powerful.

_''Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you,''_

* * *

It was the next night when Steve received a phone call from her in the early hours of the morning.

Emma had been holding off taking the antibiotic she created out of fear she would lose the amount of progress she was making. Without the injection in her bloodstream, it had been easier to analyze what was going on. She had collected files worth of information, more than enough to work on and hopefully find a solution. However when she woke up at 1 am covered in sweat and her body heaving in pain, she thought she had left it too long.

This was it. This was how she was going to leave this world. Alone, suffering, and all because of the mistakes she had made.

That was until she remembered Steve's phone number stuck on her refrigerator. The last thing she wanted to do was involve anyone else in this, but it had gone beyond her. She couldn't do this alone, and more importantly, she couldn't get to the antibiotic. Due to how important it was to Emma, she had placed it in the top section of her bookcase in a small container.

Even though she managed to get herself out of bed, there was no way she had the strength or ability to stand up. The pain was almost unbearable. Black blood stained her white t-shirt and chest, trailing from both her nose and mouth. As she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of her bedside mirror, she could have easily mistaken herself for someone who had been beaten up in the streets. Except where there was normally red, there was now black.

Clawing her way across the apartment, leaving a trail of blackness behind her, Emma had finally made it to the kitchen. Sliding herself up against the refrigerator door, she reached up as far as she could and grabbed the corner of the paper Steve had given her.

Tears streamed from her eyes as she shook her head in denial. She didn't want this to happen and she especially didn't want to involve Steve. He had been through so much already and was still dealing with things, but she didn't trust anyone else enough. She didn't trust anyone else at all.

The phone rang four times, Emma assuming he wasn't going to answer, until the ringing stopped. There was a brief moment of silence on the other line before Steve's hoarse and tired voice finally responded.

''Hello?''

Emma couldn't help crying now. This was it. She was giving up her independence, giving up the idea of dealing with this on her own. Steve waited for an answer, hearing heaving breathing and sobbing through the receiver as he sat up in bed, leaning onto his side.

''Hello?'' he asked again, wondering who it was and what they wanted at this hour in the morning.

''Hey Steve,'' Emma greeted in a blubbery, panicked voice. ''It's...It's Emma,''

Steve sat up further now, swinging his legs of the side of the bed. The fact that he was sound asleep not even a minute ago was completely forgotten, all of his attention now drawn to the voice on the phone.

''Emma? What's wrong?'' he asked in a worried tone.

''I need...I need some help,'' she breathed out. ''I know it's late,''

''What's wrong?'' Steve stood up, immediately searching for his shirt. ''Are you okay?''

There was another pause, making Steve's heart beat faster and faster with worry.

''Not really,'' she told him sadly. ''I have a lot to explain, but...I really need some help right now,''

Steve could sense the fear and worry in her voice, and he knew that something was very wrong. He hadn't heard from or seen her for almost a week, but that was normal considering how busy their lives were. Steve knew Emma wouldn't be calling him unless she really needed his help, and that only made him worry even more.

''I'm on my way,'' he told her, grabbing his jacket and keys, headed for the door.

''Can you...can you hurry? Please?''

Steve was sure he broke over a dozen laws while making his way to Emma's apartment on his bike. He had maneuvered around traffic as if he was on a mission, his speed meaning nothing to him. Horns blared around him as he drove but he barely paid any attention to them. The only thing that mattered or registered to him right now was the fact that Emma needed him. Something was wrong. He just hoped that she was okay.

When he arrived, the motorcycle barely had enough time for it's wheels to stop turning before Steve jumped off and onto the sidewalk, running to the entrance of the building. As much as he didn't want to stand still right now, he walked into the elevator and waited for it to take him up to her level. Steve put his hands on his hips, his mind going over all the different possibilities.

During their little conversations over the time they had known each other, Emma had mentioned to him that she always kept a spare key above the light in the hall outside her apartment. She told him she was sure that everyone knew it was the first place to look, but she knew one day she would need it. Today was that day.  
When Steve made it inside, he was expecting chaos. Instead he was greeted with silence. But as he took a few steps further into the living room, he soon saw the trail of black liquid that lead into the kitchen where he caught sight of something that almost made his heart stop completely.

''Oh my god...''

Emma was covered in black, it was dried onto her skin and looked as if it ran from her nose and mouth. Her skin was paler than he had ever thought possible and there were beads of sweat all over her skin. Her eyelids were barely open, but once she saw Steve standing in front of her she took a deep and tried to speak.

''Steve...'' she called out with a relieved yet panicked voice.

The super soldier rushed to her side, his hand going straight to her face without a worry about the black liquid that was all over her. She looked horrible, Steve didn't know what was going on or what had caused this. He had seen many, many terrible things in his life that made him cringe to think of, and he knew that seeing Emma like this was going to be one of those memories.

''What happened to you?'' he asked, eyes wide and alert.

Emma shook her head, knowing that she couldn't explain anything right now. What she needed was the antibiotic.

''On the shelf...in living room,'' she took another deep breath, coughing a few times and covering her hand in black. ''I need the container,''

Steve didn't question her again, he just jumped up and ran into the next room. Shuffling through the shelf of books, he soon found the container and rushed back into the kitchen. Emma grabbed it from him with a grateful sigh and ripped it open. Steve watched on, horrified at what was happening. A small vial of clear liquid was inside and Emma knew that it was very potent, so she filled the syringe that accompanied it with only a small amount.

Lifting her arm onto her lap, Emma didn't hesitate to push the needle into her vein, pressing down on the pump until the liquid was gone. A sigh of relief rushed out between her lips, her eyes closing as a new, fresh wave of oxygen hit her lungs. It was like coming back up to surface after almost drowning. Everything felt better.  
Hearing her breathing pick up, Steve dropped to his knees beside her and looked over her face. Her eyes opened wide now, her strength slowly returning.

''Thank you,'' she sighed, reaching out to his hand.

Steve held her hand tight in his, a worried look on his face as he stared at her. He hadn't been so concerned in a long time. He hadn't seen something so horrific either.

''Emma, what's going on?'' he asked desperately. ''Who did this to you?''

Emma shook her head, almost amused. She wished someone had brought this all on her, that she could blame this all on someone else's wrongdoing.

''I did,'' she told him quietly, a tear streaming down her face. ''This is all my fault,''

Steve's eyes narrowed, his confusion reaching a whole new level.

''How? What exactly _is_ any of this?'' he looked down at the black mess that covered her shirt.

Emma tried to sit up more but soon discovered the pain was still there. Steve caught on and put his arm around her, helping her up more so that the refrigerator supported her back.

''You know what I do at SHIELD. I extract more than just objects. I take alien blood samples and create mixtures for SHIELD to create defense against extraterrestrial attacks,'' she gasped again when she felt a pang of pain. ''Alien blood is beyond powerful Steve, it's unnatural here and the consequences of being exposed to it...''

Emma paused, shaking her head. She didn't want to have to explain this all to him, to tell him what was really going on, but she couldn't lie to him. Steve was patient though, waiting until she was ready to continue.

''Almost two months ago I was at the lab late, and there was an accident,'' she looked up at him, his eyes widening as he realized what she was about to tell him. ''I was mixing a serum, a powerful one full of alien blood and the matter found inside alien weapons, and was about to lock the syringe into a case to submit...and I fell,''

Steve pulled his hand up to his face, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose as if he didn't want to hear any more.

''I landed in the perfect position for the injection to go right into my veins. I got about half of the dosage in my bloodstream. I thought I took care of it with this,'' she held up the syringe. ''It's a antibiotic that I helped specially design for such accidents, but as it turns out, it was too late. Too much of it had entered my system, it was too powerful,''

Emma didn't want to look at him. She didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes. She was ashamed of herself for being so naive, thinking she was okay and not reporting what happened. She hated herself for what she had done and what she'd brought upon herself. But what she hated the most was having to tell Steve. They were in such a good place together, and she knew everything was going to change.

Steve stared at her for a while, letting the information sink in. He couldn't believe such a thing was possible. He knew Emma didn't deserve this, not after how hard she worked on trying to make her work useful to others in a positive way, not like this.

''So this,'' he put his hand on her face again gently, his thumb running over the trail of black the had flowed out and over her lips. ''This is...alien?''

Emma nodded, her face nestling into his palm. It felt nice to be comforted, to have him there with her.

''And you're in pain,''

''I hadn't taken the antibiotic in a while, it's the only thing that's been holding off the symptoms from worsening,'' she admitted.

Steve swallowed, his stomach dropping at the thought of this not being the worst it could get.

''If these are the symptoms, how bad will it get?'' he asked, his hand still resting on the side of her face once he saw her leaning against it. ''What's happening to you?''

A few more tears fell down onto her cheeks, hitting Steve's hand as she held back a sob. She didn't want to say the words, especially not to him, but it was time to tell someone. It was time to admit it to herself.

''I'm dying,''

* * *

***This chapter will be continued in the next one because it was getting a bit long and I couldn't find the right place to end it, so I'll publish that in a few days probably. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, so this continues on from the last chapter straight away and it will again in the next one. I'm sorry I keep ending chapters in the middle of things but I can never find a good spot to end it, so I have to just cut it in half. Anyway, hope you're enjoying reading!**

* * *

Steve stared at the woman with wide eyes and Emma could feel his arm lose it's strength as his hand fell from her. It was like the wind had been knocked out of him. She couldn't have been dying, it wasn't right. The very thought just didn't make sense to Steve, it was impossible. She was healthy and happy, death should not be anywhere near her.

"But you work with this stuff," he shook his head, refusing to accept it. "It can be fixed, it can be reversed, can't it?"

Emma cried more as he spoke, knowing that not only had she upset him with this new information, but it felt like she was breaking his heart. He had lost so many people, gone through more than anyone should ever have to, and now he was going to have to let Emma go as well.

"I've tried," she shook her head, pulling his hand back into hers. "Steve I've tried so hard. I can't find a way, there's no history of this happening, not like this. I'm the leading researcher at SHIELD, if I can't find an answer than who else can I turn to? All I have is this antibiotic, and it won't work forever. The blood in my system is slowly making me immune to it,"

Steve hung his head low, unable to let himself believe in the idea of her no longer being here.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I was trying to fix it," she defended angrily. "I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't want SHIELD to know,"

"SHIELD doesn't know?" he asked loudly, making Emma jolt in surprise. "They need to know,"

"No," Emma shook her head quickly, her eyes widening. "No, no, no!"

"They can help you Emma, they can help find a way to reverse it," he argued. "They have the resources!

"They'll throw me into quarantine and strap me to a bed, start experiments on me instead of trying to save me!" she told him forcefully. "Don't you get it? Once SHIELD finds out, they won't even look at me like I'm human anymore. I'll be a lab rat, their first alien-human mess. I can't let that happen. I don't have control over much right now but I will not let that happen,"

Steve sighed.

"You have to tell them. Those researchers, those scientists, they can all work on finding a cure-"

"No Steve!" she hit her hand against the floor in protest. "They can't know, I have to fight this on my own,"

"How?" Steve asked, his frustration beginning to show. "You just said you have nothing. You need their help,"

"I need more time!" she finally yelled, snapping. "I just…I need more time to work. I can make more antibiotics, I can stay well enough to work on this,"

Steve stood up, his hands on his hips as he shook his head. All his worry had turned into anger at the fact she was dealing with this alone. Something so serious needed to be combatted by more than just one person, she needed to increase her chances but she was so stubborn. Steve couldn't get past her admission that she was dying, nothing else mattered to him now. He couldn't lose someone else, he wouldn't let that happen. But he had no idea what to do.

"You can't do this on your own," he shook his head, not looking at her. "I can't let you just…"

Steve couldn't bring himself to say it. Everything had happened so fast in such a small amount of time, his mind was too jumbled to let anything sink in.

"You're…you're dying," he spoke softly, his words barely a whisper, but Emma heard him.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, her emotions completely letting go.

"I just have to say it right now," he took a deep breath, turning to her. "I…I care about you a lot, and I have feelings for you. I can't stop thinking about you Emma and I know this is the worst timing…you don't want to hear this right now but if I _don't_ say it...,"

Emma watched as Steve ran his hand through his hair, his hands coming back down and snaking their way into his pockets.

"I can't lose you," he shook his head, shrugging as if the idea of her dying just wasn't going to happen. "I can't,"

"Steve…"

"No, I can't," he told her again. "I can't lose you and that's why you need to tell SHIELD what's going on, they can help you-''

"No! Steve, _please_. I'm _begging_ you not to tell them!" she looked up at him. "I just want more time. I will tell them eventually, but I want the time that I do have to fix myself, please. There's a chance I can do this, I can save myself,"

Steve didn't like the idea, but he wasn't the one who was suffering. He was angry because he wanted the best for her, he wanted her to get the help she needed, the help he couldn't give her. But if she wanted time, he could at least understand that. However if anything like this happened again, he wouldn't have a choice.

"Steve," she began, her tears flowing still. "You're not the only one with those feelings. When I'm with you, you make me feel better, things aren't so bad, it's like the negatives don't exist…because I'm with you, and I don't know what it is,"

Steve looked at her as she expressed herself, his heart both swelling and breaking at her words.

"I don't want to do this by myself anymore. If I can't fix this…I just don't want to be alone. But I hate myself for dragging you into it. I can't expect you to stay and deal with this, it's just that you're the only person...''

Emma's words died out before she finished what she wanted to say. Steve looked over to her and saw her hands covering her face as she cried, her body trembling. He wouldn't let her do this alone, not anymore. Silently, Steve made his way back to sit beside her, his arm going around her shoulder and pulling her into his side. He didn't care about the black blood that was all over her arms and clothes, he didn't care anything right now except for the woman in his arms who had just admitted that she needed him. Steve knew how difficult it must have been for her, being so independent and stubborn, but he was glad she told him everything. He was going to do whatever he could to help her and he just hoped that she would get better.

''You won't be alone,'' he whispered to her as her cries settled down. ''I promise,''

Emma's hands wrapped around his side, clinging to him as if he was going to disappear. She just needed comfort right now, she needed some peace. Steve noticed and pulled his other arm around her too now, holding her closer.

''I promise,''

They stayed like that for what felt like hours. Emma didn't want to open her eyes and admit that this was all really happening and Steve just didn't want to let her go. He needed her to know that he was going to be there for her through this. He didn't know what sort of help he could be considering he didn't know the science like she did, he didn't understand what he could do to help her. Being there for her though, he knew he could do that.

Steve began rubbing the side of her arm, trying to soothe her since he knew she was still hurting. Even though they had both just admitted to having feelings for one another, at the worst possible time, and they were now in each others arms, it was far from romantic. Their minds weren't on that aspect of their relationship, not after everything that had just happened. Right now they just wanted to sit in silence and let everything sink in.

A few moments later, Emma began to shift in his arms. Without warning she began coughing, gasping for air as she gripped the edge of the counter. Steve hurriedly grabbed a glass and filled it with water, kneeling down beside her within a matter of seconds, just as she was trying to catch her breath.

It seemed that holding off on the antibiotic for so long was making her recovery very slow. She was getting her energy back progressively, but it just wasn't enough for her right now.

''Here,'' Steve offered.

Emma looked up and grabbed the glass of water, taking a mouthful and swallowing with another wince of pain. Everything on her body hurt as if she had been hit by a truck, if only that were the case.

When her breathing returned to normal, Emma continued to drink the glass of water, knowing her body needed more fluids after the amount of black blood that covered her clothes. She was a complete mess.

''I'm sorry about this,'' she shook her head in shame, looking at Steve with sad eyes. ''You shouldn't have to be dragged into this, I shouldn't have called you,''

Steve pushed the hair away from her face, his hand resting above her forehead soothingly.

''Don't ever be sorry,'' he shook his head. ''You're not dragging me into anything against my will. I want to be here and help you, I want you to call me whenever you need,''

''But this isn't your problem Steve,'' she argued softly.

''If it's hurting you, it _is_ my problem,''

Emma's lips almost pulled into a small at his sweet words, but she couldn't let herself allow him to do this so suddenly. He didn't know the extent of this, he didn't know how bad it was going to get.

''Don't waste your time on me Steve,'' she reached up and grabbed his hand. ''You don't know what you're getting into,''

Steve sighed and looked up at her her with serious look on his face.

''No, we're not doing that,'' he told her firmly. ''You're not pushing me away from this right after you bring me in. I'm here for you,''

They stared at each other for a moment, lost in each others gaze. Emma wanted to tell him that she really didn't want him to go, she wanted him to stay with her, but she knew how selfish it was. However Steve had no plans to let her go through this on her own anymore, no matter what sort of argument she put up.

Emma looked back down at her clothes, noticing the blackness that covered her. She had to get up, she had to keep going. She didn't want Steve to watch her like this any longer.

''I need to get up,'' she told him, pushing herself away from the refrigerator.

Steve held out a hand and she took it without hesitation, letting him pull up her and tuck his arm around her waist.

''You need to rest,'' he told her, feeling just how weak she was.

''I'm not going to sit there and give up,'' she shook her head. ''I just...I need to take a shower, I need to clean up this mess, I need to stop being so weak,''

Steve helped her to the bathroom as she lead them down the hall, letting go of Steve and gripping the counter to stay standing. He didn't feel right leaving her in here alone, but she was insistent that she needed to take a shower no matter how weak she felt.

''I'll be okay,'' she nodded. ''You don't have to stay, you've done more than enough,''

Steve turned back to her as he stopped at the door. She looked as if she was about to pass out from pain. Steve never thought he would see her like this. She was always so happy and strong, it hurt him to see her in this condition. It hurt more to know that he couldn't do anything for her.

''I'll be here when you come out,'' he told her with a nod.

Emma watched as he closed the door behind him, leaving her in privacy. She didn't know why he had chosen to stay or why, after Emma had explained her situation, he wanted to stay by her side. In anyone elses eyes, she was a lost cause. Steve could never see her that way though.

Once Steve heard the water turn on, he made his way back to the kitchen. He took a deep breath and leaned against the counter, running his hands over his face as if he was going to wake up from this terrible dream he was having any minute now. Emma had been battling this on her own for almost two months, she had been living this hell by herself and all he could think of was the moment she told him she was dying. There was so much disappointment and shame in her voice, it made him wish that he could take it all away.

Steve's job was to fix problems. He was given missions and he took care of them. But this wasn't his mission, and he didn't know how to even approach fixing it. He couldn't lose that woman, he couldn't let another person he cared about die. It had taken him this long to admit he even felt anything for her, to come to terms with the fact that he was beginning to move on from his past, and this had hit him like a ton of bricks. But this wasn't about him. This was about Emma, and he was going to make sure she got all the support and help she needed from him.

By the time Emma had finished her shower and changed into the grey sweatpants and white t-shirt that had been left in her bathroom, Steve had accomplished many things. He had cleaned the floor in the kitchen so she wouldn't have to relive the memory of what she had just suffered through. He had covered the trail that went from the kitchen to her bedroom as well, making sure that didn't make herself feel any worse than she already did.

When he heard her walking down the hall, Steve hurried to her and resumed their position from earlier, his arm snaking around her waist and helping her to the living room. Emma was still in pain, it hadn't eased at all, but at least now she didn't feel as horrible as she did when covered in her alien blood.

''You cleaned,'' she looked around the kitchen as they passed by.

''I wiped a towel on the ground, it was nothing,'' he shook his head.

Emma stared at him as they walked, her heart swelling in appreciation and adoration for the man. But it was overshadowed with guilt. Guilt that she had brought him into all of this in desperation, because she wasn't strong enough to do it on her own.

When they made it to the living room, Emma discovered that cleaning up wasn't all that Steve had done while she took her shower. The couch was now full of cushions, pillows and blankets, and that's exactly where Steve was leading her.

''Steve,'' she sighed, wishing he hadn't gone to the trouble.

''Don't argue,'' he shook his head, walking her over to the comfortable looking couch.

Steve bent down enough to let her fall into the pillows, holding her waist still as she bit her lip in pain. He waited until her head was resting against the pillow that he had stacked up high enough that she was still sitting up. When she closed her eyes with a long, relieved sigh, Steve had a genuine smile on his face.

''Steve,'' she grabbed his hand as he moved past her. ''Thank you,''

''It's okay,''

''No, please just know how much I mean it. If you hadn't come here...I don't know what would've happened,'' she told him, making him frown at the thought. ''You saved me,''

''You saved yourself,'' he told her. ''With that antibiotic, with your research. You've been battling this on your own for months, don't give me credit for what you've done,''

Steve was firm with that. He didn't want to seem like a hero to her, she was her own hero. She was smarter than almost anyone else he knew and she had taken care of such a severe problem all on her own with the work she had done herself. If anyone could save her, if anyone could cure this, he was sure it was her.

Emma smiled up at him, her hand still gripping his as he sat down on the living room floor just in front of her. She felt like such an invalid and thought that maybe this was how it was going to be like when she got worse.

''Why are you being so good to me?''

''Because you deserve to be taken care of,'' he told her proudly.

''You should be mad at me,'' she told him, watching as his expression turned to confusion. ''I was handing those vials of alien blood over to SHIELD for a long time. I knew how powerful they were and I didn't even care what they were doing with them,''

"Don't focus on that right now," he shook his head. "My history with SHIELD is complicated, I'm not mad at you,"

"You should be, they have my work. If they use this on or against a human…I don't know what I've done, I was so stupid,"

"Emma," Steve reached up and put his hand on her arm. "That isn't important right now,"

"It is. My work was meant to help people and instead it's poisoning me,"

"We'll figure this out, we will. But you need to get better first and that means resting. Emma I don't know this stuff, I'm basically useless to you, but I am going to help you through this whole thing,"

Emma couldn't help the tear than ran down her cheeks. Normally she didn't cry, she tried to be strong, but she couldn't right now. Emma and Steve hadn't known each other for long. They had only just admit they had feelings for one another and yet Steve was willing to be by her side. It was unbelievable. But Steve Rogers wasn't just an ordinary man. Emma always knew that, but she never expected him to do this. This wasn't his battle to fight or problem to deal with, but Steve wouldn't listen to her arguments about it anymore.

''How do you feel?'' he asked, sitting closer to the couch.

''Better,'' she nodded. ''If I don't move for the next few hours, I should be fine,''

''How often do you have to take the antibiotic?''

Emma shrugged. ''It depends. I can feel when my body's getting weaker and I usually get nose bleeds, that's when I take it. But I don't want to have to depend on it, I want to fight this on my own,''

''Human bodies aren't meant to fight something like this on their own,''

''I wish I didn't have to fight it at all. I wish I didn't work so late that night on my own, I wish I wasn't so clumsy and I wish that this never happened,''

''I wish you didn't have to fight this either,'' Steve agreed. ''I wish there was something I could do,''

Emma looked down at him with a grateful smile.

''You just being here is enough,''


	9. Chapter 9

**Another chapter!**

**Because I have so many already written, I thought that if I updated I would get closer to where I'm up to writing now and therefore have more inspiration to keep writing, if that makes sense. Anyway I hope you're enjoying it so far because I have so many ideas ready to go and some new and familiar characters that'll be coming into the story eventually. **

* * *

There had been so much that happened within the past hour that Steve hadn't even had time or room in his thoughts to remember that Emma had admit to having feelings for him too. It had taken finding Emma in her kitchen almost unconscious on the floor and finding out that she was dying for him to tell her how he felt, he hadn't even expected her to respond with the same. But they didn't make a big deal of it, they hadn't even mentioned it since it happened. There were bigger things to worry about. The fact that they both felt the same for one another and that they both knew something was there was enough for now.

It was quiet in Emma's apartment now, much calmer than what it was when Steve had arrived. When he went to bed the night before, the last thing he expected was to be called up at 1 am to find Emma the way she was, to find out that alien blood was slowly killing her. But he was glad she had called him, he didn't even want to think of what could have happened if she hadn't.

''Can you put my music on?'' Emma asked softly.

''You need to sleep,'' Steve told her, wanting her to recover.

''It'll help me sleep,'' she assured.

Steve relented and stood up, walking over to her CD player and finding the disc she requested. He shouldn't have been so surprised at how many albums and mixed CD's she had considering he knew how much she loved all kinds of music, but he was beginning to think she had copies of every album made.

When he put the disc in and it began playing, Steve moved back to sitting beside the couch next to Emma. Noticing his hand sitting on top of the couch cushion, Emma grabbed it and interwined their fingers. She didn't want to make things awkward or forced since they hadn't even had time to talk about what had been said earlier, but when she hesitated and looked at Steve, he had a smile on his lips and gripped her hand tight in return.

As the intro to the song played, Emma sighed in content.

''This is my favorite song,'' she told him quietly.

''I don't think I've heard it,'' Steve admitted.

_''Shed a tear 'cause I'm missing you, it's still alright to smile. Girl I think about you every day now,''_

Steve looked up at Emma when the words began and she stared back at him with a grin. This song meant a lot to her. It was her mother's favorite song that she used to play constantly when Emma was little, and she had carried it with her through her whole life. She was glad that she could share it with Steve now too.

_''Was a time when I wasn't sure but you set my mind at ease. There is no doubt you're in my heart now,''_

When Emma's eyes fell closed, Steve sat up to pull one of the blankets across her body. She looked peaceful, content, and he was glad that after the night she had suffered through she was finally resting. It was right now that Steve was realizing just how brave she was.

After everything she had been going through, what she had been sacrificing just to find answers, the fact that she was worrying about what SHIELD was going to do with her work and how it would affect others when she should have been worrying about herself was beyond him. She was full of strength even at her weakest moments, and he was lucky that he had someone like her to admire.

Steve moved his hand to her forehead then, brushing her hair gently away from her face as he watched her sleep.

_''Said woman take it slow, it'll work itself out fine. All we need is just a little patience,''_

* * *

Emma could feel conciousness pulling at her and as much as she wanted to stay asleep, she opened her eyes to the ceiling of her living room. Reaching down to her chest to grab her glasses, she almost forgot about what had happened the night, or early morning, before. It was as if she had dreamed calling Steve to help, dragging herself to the kitchen and being in an incredible amount of pain. But seeing the black marks on her floor was enough to convince Emma that it had happened, and there was no going back.  
Pulling herself up, Emma was relieved that her body wasn't aching like it had been.

She could move her arms and legs without pain, it was almost like she was normal again. The antibiotic was powerful and Emma had learnt now that regular doses were the only way she was going to get through this. No more cutting herself off from the only medicine that was helping her. She would never put herself back into that condition.

''You're awake,''

Emma's eyes locked on the man walking into the room. His hair was messy and his jacket was now thrown onto one of the other chairs in the room. He had stayed with her the whole time, just as he promised.

''I thought you left,'' she sat up.

''I wanted to make sure you were okay when you woke up,'' he explained, lifting a glass of water from the bench and handing it to her.

Emma accepted the drink with a smile and began to take a few sips, realizing just how thirsty she was. Being on the couch wrapped up in blankets and having Steve take care of her reminded her so much of when her mother was sick. Whenever Emma would visit, which was quite frequently after her mother was diagnosed, she would play the role of nurse. One of the main things that Emma thought of as she realized how her condition was worsening was the fact that her mother never gave up. Through the treatments, through the many bad days and through all of her battle, she never gave up, and Emma wasn't going to either.

''How do you feel now?'' he asked, noticing her long pause.

''Normal. Well, as normal as I can be for now,''

''You're not in pain?''

Emma saw the worry in his eyes, and she didn't like that she was causing him to feel like that. This was why she didn't want to bring him into this. He didn't need this weighing on his shoulders along with everything else in his life, it just wasn't fair.

To answer his question, Emma stood up and stretched her arms, looking over to him with a grin on her face. Steve had to admit that seeing that smile made him feel a thousand times better.

''I feel great actually,'' she told him, finishing the glass of water. ''Full of energy,''

''I'm glad. Last night...I haven't been that freaked out in a long time,'' he told her with a light smile, trying not to darken the mood too much. ''You scared me,''

Emma frowned.

''I know, and I'm sorry. I can imagine how crazy it all would have seemed,''

''It still seems crazy to be honest. A year ago I didn't know aliens even existed and I especially didn't know that people studied them,''

''Hey most people still don't believe they exist, even after New York. Sometimes ignorance is bliss,'' she shrugged. ''Right now I wouldn't mind being one of those people,''

Steve watched as she walked over to the windows, pulling back the curtains. Although he could clearly tell that she was physically better, he could also see how this was all affecting her mentally. He knew how passionate about her job she was. The way her face lit up when she spoke about her work was one of his favorite things about her, but he could see that enthusiasm fading away.

''What time is it?'' Emma gasped as she pulled her hand up in front of her face, shielding her from the harsh sunlight.

''It's 10.25,'' Steve told her after a quick glance at the clock.

''I have to be at the lab,'' she ran her fingers through her long hair.

''Are you sure?''

''Positive. I gotta use all the time I've got before...well before I run out,'' she sighed. ''I have to find a way to fix this,''

Steve nodded in understanding.

''I guess I should go,'' he picked up his jacket, swinging it around his back and sliding his arms in. ''But I'll stop by the lab later,''

''You don't have to do that,'' Emma walked over to him.

''But I will because I want to,'' he told her in a voice that suggested there was no way he was changing his mind.

Emma smiled up at him, enjoying the way he put up a fight against her oncoming arguments now.

''You sure you're okay?''

''I'm sure,'' she nodded honestly.

''Okay then, I'll see you later,''

Emma stood there as Steve walked down the hall to her door, but she found herself calling out and stopping him before he left. Steve turned immediately at her voice, wondering what was wrong before he saw her walking to him.

''I just want to say thank you again,'' she began, putting her hands on her hips. ''Honestly, if you hadn't been here...''

''It's okay, and I mean it so don't start apologizing again,''

Emma chuckled briefly before shaking her head, knowing that was useless.

''It's just a big deal to me that you know. I don't trust many people in my life and although I'm still going to regret bringing this all on you like I did, I don't regret telling you. If anything happened and I didn't get to explain all of this to you, I wouldn't want it that way,''

Steve appreciated her words, smiling in return and trying not to think of the idea that she could have died without him even knowing that she was fighting against anything.

''Me neither,''

Before Steve could turn to the door again, Emma walked toward him and snaked her arms around his body. He was taken aback for a moment, but only a moment. Soon his arms went around the top half of her body as his hand rubbed her back, smelling her hair as it tickled his nose. Steve hadn't realized how significant their height difference was until now. Her head came to just below his chin, the perfect hugging height in both of their opinions.

Emma wondered how to mention what they had admit to one another the night beforen, but she felt it was too soon. Both of their emotions were heightened at the time and everything had come out so rushed, she wanted to make sure that he knew what he was getting into before she brought it up. She didn't want to stop seeing Steve or spending time with him, but a relationship seemed so unrealistic right now. They needed to know each other more and Emma needed to find a cure for herself. There was too much going on, but at least the words were out there.

They didn't know how long they'd been holding another another but Emma knew that if she kept her eyes closed for any longer while resting against his chest, she was going to fall asleep. He was so warm and comforting, she wished she could put the moment on pause for hours. Steve felt the same. He liked having her in his arms, knowing that she was okay for now. But eventually they had to break away.

Steve Rogers didn't get many visitors at his apartment. In fact he couldn't remember the last time anyone had shown up at his door. SHIELD had made sure he found a suitable apartment building where no one could hassle him and he would be surrounded by good neighbors that he was sure SHIELD had done background checks on. However when he opened his door, he almost jumped at the surprise of seeing the familiar red head sitting on his couch reading one of the many books Steve had collected.

''What are you doing here?'' he asked, anger in his voice.

''You weren't answering your cell or your home phone,'' she told him, her eyes not bothering to look up from the page she was on.

Steve knew that she was aware of how much this bothered him, but her actions had gone beyond him trying to argue anymore. He never knew how much he could trust Natasha, but he did know that she wasn't a bad person. He had fought alongside her and she had offered him help when he moved to the city, he knew she wasn't a bad person. He knew she meant well, but he was also aware that she found it amusing to annoy him.

''How'd you get in?''

Natasha looked over to Steve with a grin on her face, not even having to answer him. A locked door never stopped her getting into anywhere she wanted to go.

''Spent the night out, did you?'' she asked.

''Why do you ask me questions you know the answers to?'' he sighed, throwing his keys onto the table.

''Some people like to pretend I don't know,'' she shrugged. ''The point of a cell phone is so people can reach you where you're not home,''

''And the point of a locked door is to stop people from coming in,''

Natasha's lips quirked into a smile at his words. She could tell he was annoyed at her just inviting herself into his apartment, but it was more than that. The look on his face when he first walked in and the look he was wearing now suggested that there was something else on his mind. Natasha knew Steve well enough to assume he wasn't going to fill her in on where he'd been, but she already knew. Driving past Emma's building, it wasn't hard for her to see Steve's bike parked on the curb outside.

Natasha knew how to read people though and instead of asking Steve questions about his night or about the scientist, she decided not to push her luck. She had just broken into his apartment after all.

''So is there a point to you being here?''

''Someone's grouchy,''

''I'm not grouchy, I just thought we had an understanding about boundaries,'' he explained, grabbing a bottle of water without looking over to her.

''I do understand boundaries which is why I didn't show up at the door of where you actually were,'' she told him. ''I thought you'd prefer I wait here instead,''

Steve was glad she hadn't shown up at Emma's door and he wasn't at all surprised that she knew where he had been. However she didn't mention it again, she didn't even ask why he was there.

''What did you need me for?''

''Agents are caught up in Geneva. SHIELD's sending in an extraction team but it could get tricky, they want us to go. Shouldn't be too difficult but we'll be gone for a few days,'' she told him, setting the book down on the couch next to her.

It wasn't the most perfect timing to go on a mission that would take him to another country for a couple of days, but that was Steve's job. As much as he wanted to stay and be with Emma, he had a feeling that he would just be in the way. Steve was aware of how Emma worked and even though he didn't like the idea, he knew she would be working all day and night for the next few days anyway while she had the energy.

They still had so much to talk about. So much had happened last night, things were still sinking in and Steve just wanted everything to stop for a while so he could come to terms with all of the new information. He wanted so much to stay and help Emma, but he didn't know how he could just yet.

''Everything okay Rogers?''

Natasha stared at Steve like she did when interrogating a target. Something was bothering him and he was really trying to hide it from showing. The way his eyes fell when she told him they'd be leaving and how his hands rested on his hips when she explained it would be for a few days. Something had happened last night at Emma's and although she knew she wasn't entitled to know, she needed to know that Steve was going to be okay.

''Fine,'' he nodded. ''When do we leave?''

''There's a briefing at SHIELD in an hour. I'll pick you up whenever you're ready and we'll leave from there,''

''Give me ten minutes,''

* * *

Emma had left her apartment twenty minutes after Steve did and hadn't left her lab since arriving. Seeing how slow the antibiotic managed to take effect the night before, Emma was determined to focus on that first. It wouldn't take too long, but she planned to use that time to think of another way to filter the alien blood out of hers. It seemed like an impossible task, but there had to be a way.

She was still so set on not involving another person, but she knew that eventually she would need help from someone who understood the field as well as she did. Emma had connections with brilliant scientists who she knew would have some possible theories on how to handle this situation, especially Bruce Banner who she used to frequently be in contact with. Emma just didn't want to have to rely on the help of others since she was the one who put herself in this position. Until she absolutely had to, Emma was going to try and cure herself on her own.


	10. Chapter 10

It had not even been an hour and Emma had managed to fix her first problem of strengthening the antibiotic again and enhancing it's effect. Now, she had multiple blood samples lined up across her work bench ready to be tested. Emma had been able to get her hands on some other substances in her storage which she intended to use until she found results. Harmful ones, medicinal ones, anything she could mix into her blood. She needed to know what was inside her and that meant testing what her blood could withstand.

Alien blood was extremely powerful and it helped extraterrestrial beings become much more durable than any other creature. Not only did Emma have that inside her, but she also had matter from alien weaponry. She had no idea what was happening to her body. It was defending itself inside but it was killing itself as well, it made no sense.

Just as she was about to start mixing up serums, there was a knock at her lab door.

''Emma?'' Steve poked his head inside.

''Oh hey Steve,'' she sighed with relief.

If any of her colleagues had walked in and seen vials of blood on the bench, she wouldn't know how to explain herself. She really needed to start locking her door.

''How are you?''

''Fit as a fiddle. Right as rain. Healthy as a horse,'' she smiled, her hand resting casually on her hip as she leaned against the end of the bench.

Steve grinned at her, glad that she was feeling better and even returning to her usual attitude. As he walked further into the room, his eyes fixed on the many tiny vials of dark blood that Emma had lined up on her bench. Emma saw the look on his face and knew that she would never like seeing him worry over her.

''I'm just testing a few things,'' she explained calmly. ''Figured I can't work on a cure when I don't know what I'm curing exactly,''

''Well if anyone can figure it out my money's on you,''

Emma grinned shyly.

''I wouldn't be so sure,''

''You underestimate yourself,''

''I handed this stuff over to SHIELD without even knowing what it could do to someone. I mean I knew what was in it, I have loads of notes and research, but not on the effects it could have on a human. I wasn't expecting them to do human trials with it but even if they had, I had no idea what I was going to be subjecting that person to,'' she told him. ''It seems fitting that that person would be me. Punishment fits the crime,''

Steve shook his head, disagreeing with entirely.

''It was an accident, you don't deserve this,''

''Maybe, maybe not,'' she sighed, wanting to get off the topic now. ''I didn't expect you here so soon,''

''Neither did I. I'm being sent on a mission,''

Emma walked back to pick up a cloth on her table before beginning to clean her glasses, watching Steve with interest.

''It's in Geneva,''

''As in Geneva, Switzerland?'' Steve nodded in reply. ''Huh, I forget that agents get to travel a lot,''

''I'm gonna be gone for a few days, maybe more,''

''Oh,'' Emma spoke quietly. ''When do you leave?''

''Today. Soon actually,''

As soon as he said the words, Steve could see the subtle look of disappointment on Emma's face. It was beginning to seem that bad timing was a common thing in their lives. This was Steve's job though, he did this all the time. Sometimes he would be gone for days and sometimes it was for weeks, that was just how it worked. But he never felt that he was leaving anything behind when he left because he didn't have anything to come back to anyway. Now, after everything that had happened between the two of them in the past 12 hours, he felt that he was leaving Emma.

Emma would never stop him from doing his job and she especially didn't want to guilt him into thinking he shouldn't go because that was silly. She was more than capable of surviving without him for a few days, she'd been doing it all on her own for almost two months now. She just wished they had a chance longer than 10 minutes that they could talk about everything. Things were so rushed this morning and last night, she knew that Steve had a million questions and they did need to address their feelings for one another, but it was going to have to wait.

''Well,'' Emma began, putting on a smile for him and settling her hands on her hips. ''I hope it all goes according to plan then,''

''The last thing I wanted right now was to leave,'' he told her with a sigh.

''It's okay, there's no reason for you to feel like you have to stay Steve,'' she shrugged.

''It's just that after everything...''

''It's okay,'' she told him again forcefully with a smile. ''Honestly, I'll be working non-stop for the next few days anyway. By the time I finish what I want to do here you'll be back and then we can...talk,''

''I'd like that,'' he nodded in agreement.

Steve could see that she was masking her disappointment, but she was right. Emma would be working all day and night while she had the energy and new theories. Steve would be back in no time.

''Maybe a few days away from this will be good,'' she suggested, sliding her glasses back on and throwing the cloth across the room. ''It might give you some perspective on what you could be getting into,''

Emma looked at him with a smile on her lips, but her words were meant as a warning. If they were going to talk about things when he got back, and that included their feelings for one another, she wanted him to be sure about his promise to be with her through it all. Even if there was the slightest chance of Emma and Steve having a relationship, she needed him to know that it wasn't going to be easy, and it might not make it very far. Time to think about it all could be a good thing for them.

Steve rolled his eyes, shaking his head at her words.

''Won't change anything,'' he assured her.

''Well you won't know until you come back, will you?'' she played with one of the longer strands of her hair.

Emma sat herself down at her desk chair, resting comfortably as Steve walked over with his hands in his pocket. She hoped one day she could explain all of this to him, help him realize just how amazing it was to work with such powerful things. As he made his way around the desk, careful not to disturb the storage boxes with warnings all over them, he noticed a bunch of papers on her desk. It was hard not to read them. Emma saw his eyes scanning across the papers.

''I'm recalling my work,'' she told him. ''If I don't know how to contain it, I don't want it out there,''

''Are you sure? SHIELD will ask questions,''

''And I'll answer them. This isn't safe in their hands. I've already wrote up a very convincing letter explaining that I've found new cells inside my serums that I want to run tests on,''

''What are you going to do with it when you get it back?''

''Well hopefully SHIELD hasn't used it at all so that I can. Studying it will help me study myself. When I'm done, I'll destroy it. I don't know what excuse I'll use for that just yet but I'm sure I'll figure something out,'' she explained as she rubbed her temples.

''Don't stress yourself out too much,''

''That's 90% of my job,'' she looked up at him. ''I wouldn't get anywhere if I didn't stress,''

Steve sighed as he glanced at her clock, knowing that he had to be in Fury's office in five minutes.

''I have to go,'' he finally said.

''Okay,'' Emma stood up, walking over to him.

She had only hugged Steve once and that was earlier that morning, but she figured that him leaving for a mission called for another. Emma wrapped her around around his body, knowing that she probably took him off guard once again, but it wasn't too long before he hugged her back with a tight squeeze of his arms.  
''Be safe,'' she looked up at him as she pulled away.

''I will,'' he nodded. ''Take care of yourself,''

Emma laughed. ''I'll try,''

Steve smiled and walked over to the door, stopping when he heard Emma calling his name once again.

''You know, Switzerland has really good chocolate or so I've heard,'' she began with a smirk.

''I'll keep that in mind,''

* * *

It was late that night when Emma had run out of alien samples to use in her tests. She had tried everything from dangerous to supposedly helpful, yet none of them had any effect on her blood. Each drop of substances that she added to the vials just fizzled away as if they were dust. Emma was realizing just powerful her blood was now, not just the alien cells inside of her. Since they merged, the cells had developed a defense system that blocked any unwanted or harmful bacteria into her body.

The alien cells had taken over, giving her the protection that aliens had against anything foreign, and yet it was still hurting her. Her body was rejecting it still and it would continue to do so, but the alien blood was too powerful to override. That's what her problem was. That's what she couldn't fix and that's what's killing her. The alien genetics were taking her, but her human cells were fighting back. It was like a war was raging inside her body but she didn't know how to make it cease. Medicines wouldn't work, even alien serums that were made for medicinal purposes to hopefully cure sicknesses wouldn't work. Her blood just wouldn't allow anything in to help. Only the antibiotic which she knew she couldn't keep relying on. However, it was the only thing saving her life right now.

Emma needed her work back from the Fridge. She needed to study the serum that was inside her and work on it independantly. There was no way she could afford to make mistakes on her own body, but with her work in front of her, she could make as many as she wanted until she found something that worked. The only trouble was getting it back.

Natasha and Steve had been sitting the back of the jet for hours now, knowing they still had many more ahead of them before they would reach their destination. The extraction team consisted of Steve, Natasha and three other agents. After being briefed, there was a discussion in the first hour of their journey on tactics and orders, and then they had all settled into silence.

It wasn't hard to Natasha to see that Steve's mind was far from on the mission, but she hadn't said anything until the other man in the room had left to go to the others who were flying the jet. Not a word was spoken between them for a long time after they'd been left on their own, but Natasha wasn't afraid to break the silence.

''Something on your mind Rogers?'' she asked, lifting her leg to rest her arm on comfortably as she leaned her back against the wall.

Steve looked over to her with a shrug.

''Just wondering how this is going to go,'' he told her.

Natasha couldn't believe he thought he was a good liar.

''You've had the same look on your face since I saw you at your apartment this morning. There's more than just the mission on your mind,'' she pointed out.  
''I'm surprised you haven't kept tabs on my mind either,''

''Hey,'' Natasha drew his attention with a firmer voice. ''Whatever it is that's bugging you, don't bring it here between us or the mission. I told you that you could talk to me about things if you needed to get anything off your chest and I don't offer that opportunity to many people. If you don't want to share that's fine, but don't compromise yourself,''

Steve tried to ignore her stare, but it was hard when she was persistant on making her point known. He knew he shouldn't get mad at her for wondering what was wrong, Steve was aware that he wasn't the best at hiding whenever something serious was on his mind. He was easy to read and Natasha saw right through him every time.

''I'm sorry,'' he told her, leaning back against the wall and letting out a sigh. ''I know you offered, but I don't want to talk about it. Some things that bother me have to stay me with me only, I can't share them. I won't let it get in the way of this mission,''

Natasha nodded his way in understanding before his gaze fell to the floor once again. Whatever was on his mind, it was none of her business. But that didn't mean she didn't have a hint of worry over it. She knew what it was like to lose focus on missions, it could be the biggest mistake of someone's life. However Steve assured her and he had been doing this long enough for her to take his word for it.

Steve just wanted Emma to be okay. Not being there with her shouldn't have been a big deal, but he had only just found out about her condition the day before. He still didn't know that much about it, there were many questions he needed answering and his mind was full of thoughts he didn't have over 24 hours ago. He couldn't think about it right now thought, Emma wouldn't want him to risk anything on this mission. He had to focus and get into the mindset he was usually in for missions. Steve had to be Captain America.

* * *

It had been two days since Steve left on his mission and Emma had only left her lab once. The first night she had fallen asleep at her desk after writing up the results of her tests that afternoon and the second night she had driven herself home at 11 pm after after a full day of searching the archives and databases for any information she might had missed about potential alien poisoning cases. Even as she drove through the brightly lit streets to her apartment building, Emma couldn't stop thinking of Steve and the fact that if he had known she was driving home while being so tired she would definitely get a lecture or be escorted home by him.

It had surprised her how much she missed him. They went days without seeing one another, but now that Steve knew about her, Emma felt like he was the only person she could be herself around. Although she had a feeling that she would still try and hide the dark patches on her skin that were becoming a real concern. Her skin still felt the same, but it was a light grey color in certain areas, mostly on the shoulder beside her neck. It was the alien blood coming to the surface.

Emma pushed the mirror on her desk away so that she couldn't see herself. It was the last thing she wanted right now. Even with her hair pulled down and flowing over her shoulders, she could still see the effects this was all having on her. The antibiotic was working, it was keeping her alive, but she could see herself deteriorating. For now, time wasn't the enemy. The enemy was the fact that she was slowly turning into one of them. Into something alien.

Standing up and walking over to her stereo, Emma slid in a CD and shrugged off her white lab coat. She couldn't work anymore that day. She had no helpful results or breakthroughs after her blood tests, no response to her request to have her work back, nothing to show for her two days of endless work.

As the song started and the heavy guitar sounds filled the room, Emma ran her hands through her thick black hair, letting out a long sigh as she closed her eyes.

_''On the ground I lay, motionless in pain. I can see my life flashing before my eyes. Did I fall asleep? Is this all a dream? Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare,''_

Emma walked to her desk and picked up the research she had done that day. The research which had led her nowhere, gave her no new information and left her feeling more frustrated than ever.

_''I will not die. I will survive,''  
_  
In a moment of pure anger, Emma resorted to handling her stress and frustration in a physical way. She threw the papers across the room, watching as the individual pieces of paper fluttered off to different areas.

_''I will not die, I wait here for you. I feel alright when you're beside me. I will not die, I wait here for you in my time of dying,''_

Emma couldn't stop once she had started. She kicked her chair to the ground and watched it fall over loudly, then she cleared everything on her desk until it was too on the ground in a heap. She just wanted everything to stop.

Nothing was getting better and she was stuck in a never ending cycle of confusion and deterioriation. All her life she knew how to get answers, she knew how to work things out and find solutions, but nothing she did was working now.

''If you want to kill me just do it!'' she yelled to the empty room. ''Get it over with already,''

Emma didn't want to give up, but she had nothing to work with to help her fight. Every step she took towards fixing this only ended up pushing her ten steps backwards.  
Leaning down to pick up the mirror she had tossed to the ground, Emma frowned at her reflection in the shattered glass. She could see everything taking a toll on her. Her eyes were dark and tired, her face pale and sunken in more than usual, the reflection was everything she felt about herself at the moment. Broken.

_''Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare,''_

* * *

***Songs used in this chapter: **

**Time of Dying - Three Days Grace**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, so I've finally caught up with all the chapters I was ahead with, so now I'm writing each chapter as soon as I upload the previous one. I think it'll help me space out updates better, but I usually can't stop writing once I start so I still don't know how often I'll be updating. **

**Anyway I hope you guys are enjoying the story and as for this chapter, I hope it's not too cheesy! Steve and Emma's relationship will start to progress a lot more from this chapter onwards, so I hope you're all on board with that idea!**

**Thank you to the lovely people that review, you're all very kind and I appreciate everything you say! 3**

* * *

Emma had stayed in the lab until the sun began to rise the next morning. After about an hour of being angry and the whole situation, she gathered up everything she had thrown around and tried to get her mind back on track. She used to be good at being positive in bad situations, finding the light in the darkness, but right now it was more difficult than ever. She couldn't mope around her lab any longer though and when people began arriving to start their day of work, Emma decided it was time to leave.

As soon as she stepped into her apartment, Emma took the time to take off her shirt and pants before climbing into bed in just her underwear. She felt like she was becoming nocturnal, but it was the best way to avoid people and get work done without questions. It was easy to fall asleep lately, probably because Emma worked herself so much during the day that when her head finally hit the pillow, she just fell into a deep sleep immediately.

However that deep sleep was interrupted at five in the afternoon when she heard knocking on her door. Groaning at the sudden movements, Emma dragged herself from her bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants while she slid her glasses on. Yawning as she took the steps from her bedroom to the door, Emma was too disoriented to even consider who was on the other side knocking.

When she opened the door, she couldn't help the smile that instantly grew on her lips as she looked up at Steve.

''You're back,'' she grinned.

His blonde hair was messier than usual and he was dressed in a black shirt with his dark blue jacket and pants, but Emma's eyes were glued to his. However instead of a happy, joyful smile that mirrored her own, Steve's expression was one of shock as he immediately noticed her lack of shirt. It took all of two seconds for Emma to realize that she was standing in front of Steve Rogers in sweatpants and a red bra.

''Oh!'' she gasped, her arms immediately covering her chest as she ran back to her bedroom.

Steve hadn't even said a word yet and he was now feeling more awkward than ever. He wasn't expecting to be met at the door by a half-dressed Emma and he felt like he had stared for a little longer than he should have.

''Sorry, I wasn't with it,'' Emma shook her head, an embarassed frown on her face as she walked back into the hall with a purple t-shirt on, noticing that Steve was still standing outside the door. ''Please don't tell me you need me to ask you to come in,''

''Is this a bad time?'' he asked, stepping through and closing the door behind him.

''No, I've just turned into a bit of an Owl lately in terms of sleeping schedule,'' she informed him. ''When did you get back?''

''This morning at six. I stopped by your lab when I was at debriefing and you weren't there, I didn't know if you were...if you'd gotten sick or anything,''

Even after a three day mission in another country, he was back to worrying about her not even hours after coming home. Actually, Steve had been worrying about her the entire time he was gone.

''I've been fine,'' she shrugged. ''I missed you though,''

Steve knew his immediate smile was obvious, but he didn't care. He was glad he wasn't the only one who felt the distance between them the whole time he was away.

''I missed you too,''

Emma felt the butterflies in her stomach again. Whenever he smiled like that it always had the same effect on her. They stood there for a few moments staring at one another before Steve remembered something and reached into his pocket.

''I got you something,''

Putting the small rectangular box in Emma's hand, Steve watched as she studied it.

''I didn't know you could stop for gifts on a mission,''

"Well my team got rerouted through a small town and we had some time," Steve explained with a shrug.

Emma smiled when she opened the thin box to see the most perfect block of chocolate that she had ever seen. The smell wafted straight to her nose and she almost drooled with anticipation. Steve chuckled as she let out a long sigh, a satisfied grin on her lips.

"You didn't have to buy this for me,"

"It was no problem," Steve shook his head.

"Next time I visit another country, expect a gift," she declared.

Steve followed behind her as she walked into the kitchen, setting the chocolate on the counter before reaching into the refrigerator for a bottle of juice. He was happy to see her healthy and still the same Emma that he had grown so fond of. While he was away, his mind had been on her from the moment he set foot inside the jet. Finding out that the girl you cared about was dying was one thing, but not knowing anything about the poison that was killing her was even worse. He couldn't help her find a cure or slow down the symptoms, he was of no use.

Steve knew how hard it was for Emma to tell him what was going on and he hated that they hadn't had a chance to talk about it all before he was sent away on a mission. He felt like he was abandoning her just as she was asking for help, but he was back now and Emma had promised they'd discuss everything that happened that night. While they stood in silence for a while, both Emma and Steve knew that now was the time.

"So I guess we should talk," Emma spoke first, tapping her fingers against the bench.

Steve nodded in agreement.

"Unless it's not a good time,"

"No it's fine," she insisted. "We both said some stuff the other night and it's time we acknowledged it,"

The awkwardness in the room soared after Emma finished talking, both falling back into silence. It wasn't as if either of them regret admitting their feelings, but they didn't know where to go from here. Their words were so rushed the other night because of what was happening, but now they had time. They had a chance to talk without the stress of panic and emergency and Emma had the perfect idea in mind.

"You know what we need to do? We need to play the Get To Know You game," she suggested, leaning further into bench.

"I…don't know that one,"

"Well it's not a game exactly, but it'll be fun. We don't know that much about one another, not as much as we'd like to anyway,"

Steve leaned his arm against the bench too, considering.

"You know my whole life story,"

"I know Captain America's life story," Emma corrected. "But I don't know Steve Rogers'. Favorite color, favorite food, little things like that,"

Steve was starting to warm up to the idea of the game, interested in finding out all of the little things about Emma. He could tell she was trying to make the situation easier for them both since diving into a conversation about their feelings could go many different ways and neither of them wanted to lose the friendship they had.

"So we just ask each other questions and talk about ourselves?" Steve wondered, hoping he got the gist of it.

"We don't have to if you don't want to,"

"No I want to," Steve assured. "I just don't think there's anything interesting about Steve Rogers' that you'd want to know,"

Emma grimaced and folded her arms as if unimpressed.

"You underestimate yourself,"

* * *

After ordering pizza and putting a few albums on rotation in her CD player, Emma walked into the living room to find Steve sitting comfortably on her couch. His dark blue jacket was tosses across one of the chairs on the other side of the room, his shoes kicked off and his arms resting casually behind him on the headrest of the seat. Emma was still in her sweatpants and purple t-shirt, her long hair flowing over her shoulders after she had quickly brushed it.

Carrying two glasses and a bottle, Emma threw herself down on the couch beside Steve.

''I guess I get to ask the first question. Does Steve Rogers drink wine?''

Emma began pouring one glass, pausing for Steve's answer as he watched her carefully tip the red wine.

''Can't say I've ever tried much of it,'' he answered honestly.

''That sounds like a yes,'' Emma chuckled, pouring another. ''Everyone needs to have a glass of once at least once during the week,''

Steve accepted the glass, looking down at the liquid and taking a sip. It wasn't as bad as he was anticipating, but there was a bitter taste that he didn't know if he enjoyed yet or not.

''Is this a game you have to be drunk for? Because I can't get drunk,'' Steve told her.

Emma laughed, taking a mouthful of wine and getting comfortable by crossing her legs on the couch.

''No,'' she shook her head. ''Although that is a good way to get to know someone. But drunk games have never worked out for me in the past,''

As she reached out to set her glass on the small table next to them, Steve was a bandaid taped to her arm where she injected her antibiotic. It made him realize that for the past 10 minutes, he had forgotten about her sickness. She seemed so happy, it was hard to believe that she was dealing with so much behind the scenes.

''Should you be drinking?'' he asked cautiously, not wanting to sound rude.

Emma shrugged her shoulders.

''With what's going on inside me right now, a few glasses of wine wouldn't make any difference,'' she explained.

''Are you sure?''

''It'll be fine. I don't want to talk about me and my never-ending problem tonight, it just makes everything depressing,''

''It's okay to talk about it with me,'' Steve assured.

''I know that,'' she nodded with a thankful smile. ''But just not tonight. I've been dealing with it for two days almost non-stop, I need a break,''

Steve understood. She just wanted to forget about it for a while, and he was willing to help her with that. He still didn't know what sort of progress she had made on her condition while he was away, but those answers could wait.

''So you go first, ask me a question," Emma instructed.

Steve wasn't the best at this sort of stuff. Talking about himself, about what his life was like and the little things about himself that no one had bothered question him about before, but he figured it couldn't be too hard to play this game. There were many, many things he wanted to know about Emma. The idea of getting to know one another more was appealing to him, but he just wasn't sure that she was going to like his answers. They were both from such different times.

"What's your favorite color?" he asked, settling on an easy question.

"Green," Emma replied with a nod. "What about yours?"

"Blue," he shrugged, unsure which he actually preferred. "What's your favorite food?"

"Croissants, or pizza," she chuckled. "What's yours?''

''I'll have to agree with pizza,'' Steve laughed. ''What about your favorite place?''

Emma thought for a moment before smiling.

''My mom's house in Australia. Well, it was, I haven't been there in years,'' she thought. ''But it was perfect. It was close to the beach so the wind would blow through all day and she always had music playing, just the two of us dancing around the house. There were homemade pieces of art around the house that we made together, little pot plants hanging on the front porch and floorboards that creaked everytime you walked anywhere. Now that I say it out loud, I suppose it doesn't sound too great,''

Steve watched her as she spoke, enjoying the way she had that smile on her lips as she explained everything as she remembered. It was as if she was walking through the house again, feeling the wind against her skin and the salt water stuck to her hair, the feeling of complete peace that she didn't think she'd ever find again. She hadn't thought about it like that in a long time, it was nice to be taken back.

''Sorry,'' Emma shook her head, picking up her glass. ''Rambling,''

''No, I like hearing about it,'' Steve insisted. ''I've never been,''

''It's beautiful,''

''Why don't you go back?'' Steve asked. ''I mean, thinking about it makes you so happy,''

Emma nodded in agreement. She couldn't deny that the thought of going back to Australia was appealing to her because of how happy she was when she was there, but it always came back to the fact that she wasn't going back to those memories because that's all they were. Nothing was there for her anymore, she couldn't go back there.

''It wouldn't be the same. My mom was what made visiting Australia so special, she was the reason I loved my three weeks there every time I went and if I went back it just wouldn't be the same,''

Steve watched her face drop and he wished he hadn't brought it up. With everything going on though, he thought Emma would want to cling to those happy memories, that she would want to go back to the place that reminded her of her mother and made her feel better, but it was clear now that even though Emma insisted she had moved past that, her mother's passing still pained her.

''Besides, I've grown accustomed to the busy cities and high rise buildings,'' Emma shrugged. ''More wine?''

Steve hadn't even noticed she had finished her glass, still plenty left in his.

''Uh, no I'm okay, thanks,''

He watched as Emma poured the red liquid into her glass, filling it almost to the top. Even with Emma's assurance that she would be able to handle the alcohol with her antibiotic, Steve still felt uneasy about her drinking so fast. However it was clear she wanted to focus on anything other than her sickness, Steve just hoped she wasn't going to rely on the alcohol for that.

''Okay, my turn,'' she began, setting the bottle down. ''What was your favorite thing about growing up in the 40's?''

Steve took a deep breath, thinking to himself before he began laughing lightly. His humor was lost on Emma who stared back at him with a confused expression, watching him nervously.

''What?''

''Nothing, it's just that when I was growing up in the 40's I was about 98 pounds and got beat up more than once everyday in some back alley,'' Steve thought back to those days. ''That was what growing up was like for me,''

Emma didn't find it funny though despite the smile she gave him. Thinking of Steve going through that every day was horrible, even if it was a different time back then and he was much smaller and weaker than he was now. But there had to be more than that.

''There must have been something that you enjoyed,'' Emma insisted.

''There was,'' Steve nodded. ''I met my best friend Bucky. He stepped in while I was getting beat up, had my back ever since then,''

Emma saw the happiness turn to a frown on Steve's lips just as hers had done earlier. They both had people they loved more than anything taken away from them, but at least the memories were still alive. Steve never really spoke about Bucky, no one asked him and he didn't enjoy having to relive and retell the day his best friend died. However talking about the good times wasn't so bad.

''Did you get beat up much after that?''

''Yeah, I was a pretty stubborn guy. But Bucky always found me in some alley getting a fist thrown in my face, gave me a lecture about going around looking for fights and then we'd go around Brooklyn as if it didn't happen, almost like a routine,'' Steve explained. ''I don't know how he found me every time I was getting beat up, I used to think he went around looking down all the alleys and parking lots just waiting until he saw me in one of them on the ground. He was like a brother to me, not just a Howling Commando,''

Emma reached her hand out to put on his leg, a comforting gesture as Steve looked over to her with a sombre expression on his face.

''He sounds like a really good friend, you're lucky to have had someone like that,'' Emma told him. ''I bet if he was here now he'd still be looking out for you,''

Steve nodded, a soft smile on his lips at her words.

''I know he would, I just wish I could have returned the favor,''

Emma shook her head, refusing to let him believe that Bucky's death was his fault. Emma knew all about that day, it was taught in history and was plastered all over the walls at SHIELD. Bucky Barnes was a hero, he died with honor serving his country. But she also knew that Steve blamed himself for his best friend falling from the train on the icy mountains. Even after their brief discussion about him at the diner that night, she could tell Steve felt that way.

''But you did,'' Emma insisted. ''You saved him from that Hydra lab along with all those other soldiers. What happened to Bucky was horrible and tragic but it was an accident, don't blame yourself for that,''

Steve had heard people telling him this before, he knew that Bucky's death was an accident but it didn't change the fact that Steve was standing right beside him and couldn't save him.

''I didn't know Bucky and I have no right to pretend like I do,'' she continued. ''But if he could see what you put yourself through when you think of it being your fault, he would hate it,''

Looking back down, Steve sighed heavily.

''I know,'' he nodded. ''I just miss him. This world's hard enough to live in when you wake up 70 years into the future, but it's even worse when you don't have anyone with you,''

That's when Emma put her glass down and scooted closer to him, her hands on his shoulders as she looked at him closely, her eyes fixed on his as he stared back at her. Her hazel eyes were mesmerizing even through the clear barrier of her glasses.

''You have me,'' she told him with a genuine smile, shaking his shoulders slightly as if to make him understand. ''Just like you're here for me, I'm here for you Steve. Anytime and always, you're not alone,''

Steve's lips pulled into an appreciative smile as he stared at her, her hands still on his shoulders. Emma couldn't pull her gaze away from his as they looked at one another, silence filling the room. They still hadn't said anything to one another about their confessions the other night and the build up on tension between them because of it was growing.

Emma knew that tonight she had promised to talk about everything with Steve, she just didn't know how to begin and neither did he. They didn't know each other very well, hence the game Emma suggested, and yet they still had feelings for one another. They weren't sure how to explain them, but eventually they would have to. They had to talk about all of this.

However before anything else could be said, Emma's buzzer rang at the door. Jumping slightly at the noise, Emma slid her hands off his shoulders and moved back.

''Pizza's here,'' she told him.

''Oh,'' Steve nodded, watching her stand up and walk over to the door, sighing. ''Great,''


End file.
